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ADAMS
DISCOURSES ON DA7ILA.
DISCOURSES
ON
A V I L A.
A SERIES OF PAPERS,
ON
POLITICAL HISTORY.
DTKITTEN IN THE YEAR 1790, AND THEN PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF THE UNITED STATES.
BY AN AMERICAN CITIZEN.
NON PONEBAT ROMORES ANTE SALUTEM.
11 Truths would you teach, to fave a finking land, " All read none aid you, and few underfland. '• 'Tvvas then the ftudious head, or gen'roas mind, « Foll'wer of God, or friend of human kind,
" Taught Pow'rs due ufe to people and to kings,
" Taught nor t<> flack nor flrain its tender firings
" The lefs or greater, fet fo juftiy true,
" That touching one r.mft (Irike the other too ;
" Ti ' pring iiiterelis, of themfelves, create
" Th' accnrding mufic of a well mix'd State.
" Sucli is the world's great harmony that fprings
" Fro-n T.jer, un o;. full x:oufcnt of things ;
IVhere 1'mall .idg:tdt, \vherc weak and mighty iu«ae ' To fcrvre, not fuffer — ftrengthen, not invade; et Mort jjowi'rt'u! each jj needful to the reft, " And in proportioa ^s it bleffes, hlcft POPE.
BOSTON, PRINTED BY RU :^ELL AND CUTLER.
1805.
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE Numbers, which form this Vol. were originally published in the Gazette of the United States, at New- York and Philadelphia, during the year 1790 ; and were then fuppofed to be the production of the celebra- ted author of the " Lef nee cf tie American CenJIitutioni" In fupport of this opinion, we could, if it were neceflary, give many reafons ; but the reader, on a careful perufal of them, will readily dilrover, that they are the offspring of the fame mind, and may be diftin&Iy confidered as cor- relative parts, or an additional volume to the above work. With this view we have been governed, both in the fize of the type and page, and in the Duality of the paper, to the American edition of the Defence.
THB BDITOR»,
PREFACE.
SINCE the publication of ihefe Bifcourfes in 1790, our pbfervations abroad, and experience ;\\ ii< rr.r, liave fuffiaent- ly taught us the leilons they were intended to inculcate ; and the evils they were defigned to prevent, have borne teiU- mony of their truth.
It is unnecefTary to mention the rank or reputation of the fuppofed author, to give celebrity to the work. The Difcour- fes are allowed, by the beft judges, to form a complete cffay on afTociated man, in which practical improvement is drawn from profound inveftigation ; his principles cf action, as an individual, traced to their effects in his relative capacity ; and from the light of hiftory, and a thorough knowledge of his nature, his paft difafters are made fubfervient to his prefent and future happinefs.
The maxims inculcated in thefe Difcourfes, are calculated to fecure virtue, by laying a reftraint upon vice ; to give vi= gour and durability to the tree ot liberty, by pruning its ex- crefcencies ; and to guard it againft the temped of faction, by the protection of a firm and well balanced government.
A work, combining fo much excellence, on a fubject of fuch
dignity and importance, "cannot be too much appreciated
Conceiving it to be both ulcful and honorable tc their country, the Lditois are defirous of preferving it from the inevitable wreck of a newfpaper publication ; and believing the work will not fail of being approved by their fellow-citizens, they now tranfmit it to the public in a more durable iorm, without the aid of fubfcription or private patronage.
Two FadVions, drunk with Erthufiafm, and headed by men of the mod Jefpcrate Ambition, dcfolattd France.
Remarkt en lie Hifory of England* Boflon, March, 1805.
T/u Writer jtf' /fas Jn/*<4,tA u»A**H** f»
^ «<t ft*.
* *
. 4
n -</ >>
J-/ A*<
No. i.
Fcclix, quern faciunt aliena pericula cautum.
1 HE French nation, known in antiquity under the appellation of the Franks, were ori- ginally from the heart of Germany. In the de- clcnlion of the Roman Empire, they inhabited a country in the North, along the river Rhine, fi- tuated between Bavaria and Saxony, which (till preferves the name of Franconia. Having excef- lively multiplied, as it happens in cold climates, their country was found not fufficiently exten- live to contain them, nor fertile enough to nou- rifli them. Excited by the example of their neighbours, they refolved, by a common voice, to divide themielves into two nations ; one of which mould continue to inhabit their antient country ; and the other endeavour to procure, elfewhere, by the force of arms, an eftablifliment more vaft, more commodious, and more fertile. This enterprife was refolved, and this divdfion made by unanimous confent. Such as were def- tined by lot, to eflav their fortune, although trained to war, and incapable of terror, at the apprehcniion of the dangers of fuch an enter- prife, thought, however, that they ought not to abandon it to anarchy or hazard, but to conduct it with prudence and order. To concert the B meafurcs
t^- .^ft-i {4
'DISCOURSES ON DAFILA. &"~"*t & *&*••*
&T <
'
19 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
• *
meafures neceffary for the execution of their project, they aflembled in the plains, in the neigh- bourhood of the river Sala. Accuftomed for many ages, to live in the obedience of a Prince, and thinking; the monarchical it ate the moft con-
O
venient to a people who afpire to augment their power, and extend their conquefts, they refolved to choofe a King, who iliould unite in his fifTgle ,* perfon, all the authority of the nation. Here per- u rj ® liaps DAVILA is incautious and incon eel ; ix)r the
.5 /vert Franks, as well as Saxons, and other German na- ;/ tions, though their s:overnments were monar-
fL/Lt(Lt*'f{CW^
.,. chical, had their Grandees and People, who met
Jmtifd, ri ' ancj deliberated in National Aflemblies, whofe re-
14 AtlMuftr0 fults were often, to fay the lead, confidered as
t ' o*"- ^vs- Their great misfortune was, that, while it never v/as fufficiently afcertained, wheth-er the
''£«»"•* ^ f1 fovcreicrnty refided in the Kin?, or in the Nation-
+ * * O * O *
*' /fciht* l* ~dl AJJembly, it was equally uncertain, whether L > , .0f(i the King had a negative on the aiTernbly ; wheth-
ipr tlif» Or^nrlppt; fiarl n npcrntivf nn fhp Kincr nr
er the Grandees had a negative on the Kin^r. or
people ; and whether the people had a nega- tive on both, or either. This uncertainty will appear hereafter, in DAVILA himfelf, to mark its courfe in bloody characters ; and the whole hif- tory of France will fhew, that from the firft mi- gration of the Franks from Germany to this hour, it has never been fufficiently explained and decided.
To this fupreme degree of power in the King (as DAVILA proceeds) they added, that the crown fliould be hereditary in the family elected ; fore- feeing, that if it were elective, it would be a fource of civil wars, which would prove deftruc- • , /, tive to all their enterprifes. Mankind, in new ' eftablifliments, generaUy act with fmcerity, and - a jQng]e view to the public good. They lif-
A r-»t t~* t> yn.
DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA. M
ten neither to the ambition nor the intereft Oi private perforis : Pharamond was elected -sn( King, by unanimous confent. He was a fon of Marcomir, iilue of the blood which had cd the nation for many ages ; and, to an expe- rienced valor, united a profound wifdom, in the art of government. It was agreed that the fame title, and equal power, mould clefcend to his le- gitimate pofterity of the male line, in default of which the nation mould return to their right of electing a new fovereign. But as unlimited au- thority may eafily degenerate into tyranny, the Franks, ?t the time of the election of their King, ^ ^
demanded the eftablifhment of certain perpetual 'J'nndn't-n.** ( a and irrevocable laws, which fhould regulate thQr£ai order of fucceilion to the throne, and prefcribe in a few words, the form of government. Thcfe laws, piopofed by their priefts, whom they nam--'^* ed Salitns, and inftituted in the fields, which take n> csrt fk^/i r.tt their name from the river Sa/a, were originally f7 rtfcr 0} called Salique laws, and have been confidered, yw
"
.
from the eftablifhment of the monarchy, as the" */..
primitive regulations and fundamental conflitu- * tions of the kingdom,
Leaving their country to the old Prince Mar- comir, and palling the Rhine, under the com- mand of Pharamond. the Franks marched to the conqueft of the Gauls, about the four hundred . and nineteenth year of the chriftian yEra. The Roman legions, united with the Gaulim troops, rcfifted Pharamond, till his death. The fceptrs was left to his fon Clodion, an intrepid Prince, in the flower of his age, who in feveral battles defeated the nations of the country, difiipated ,
the Roman armies, and eftablifhed himfelf in Bel- gick Gaul. Merovius, who fucceeded him, made * /( a rapid projreii ; penetrated into Celtic Gaul5 J
"<* (tc rj Jicvi<^> o rfi t.? >/ W A ^ //L
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,ift M <?**§&
12 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
s,*id extended his empire to the gates of Pans ; judging that he had conquered country enough to contain his fubjects, and form a ftate of reafonable extent, he limited the courfe of his exploits, and turned all his cares to peace, after having united under the fame laws, and the fame name, the conquerors and the vanquifhed, whom he s;ov-
. , 11 Tr j« j i • A.-L T> i*~ r
erned peaceably. He died leaving the r ranks io- |-jjy eftabliihed in Gaul : Such "is the origin of the French monarchy, and fuch are her funda- mental laws.
By the difpolitions of the fame laws, the work
» r i • iiT'i j
or the nation, are regulated, the rights and pre- rogatives of the Princes of the Blood : As each of them, in default of direct heirs, may, accord- ing to his rank, be called to the crown, their in- terefts are neceiTarily connected with thofe of the ftate. The people regard thefe privileges, as in- violable : Neither length of time, nor diftance of degree has ever done them any injury. All thefe Princes preferve the rank which nature has allot- ted them, to fucceed to the throne. They have in- deed, in the courfe of time, taken different names, 1 ' 'ioiA fuch as thofe of Valois, of Lourbom^ of Orleans, of
/7*j -6j-r><> <dng°!{k'ne-> °f Vendome, of Ale neon, of Montponjier ; but they have not by thefe means loft the rights attached to the royal confanguinity, that, efpe- dally of fucceeding to the crown. Thefe difrer- ent branches, have from time to time aiTerted <rn t^ie Pl"e-emiRence? <^ue to their blood ; to inter-
M hjc»tJi"fe them the more forcibly, in the prefervation "of a crown, to which, in fucceilion, they may all be called, it has been commonly made a rule, in cafe of the minority, or abfence of the lawful King, to choofe for the tutors or regents of the kingdom, the Princes who were neareft related ; it would not indeed be natural to entruft the ad-
miniitratiou
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 13
miniftration to the hands of ftrangers, who might
deftroy, or at leaft difmember fo beautiful a ftate :
Whereas Princes born of the fame blood, ought,
for that rcafon, to watch over the confervation
of an inheritance, which belongs to them, in
fome fort. This right is not fun ply founded up-
onufage: The States General of the Kingdom, in*e ,j?
whom refides the entire power of the whole na-^//<**,/*~
tion whom they renrefent, have frequently con- £ < - tf ^..^ *~* *
i • TT • i
nrmed it. — Here again wre meet with another inaccuracy, if not a contradiction in DAVILA ; or rather with another proof of that confufion of /. y. '/ • law, and that uncertainty of the fovereignty, * which for 1500 years has been to France, the fa--m*-#°*"-/*//1'** •"**-. tal fource of fo many calamities :* Here the fov- ereignty, or whole power of the nation, is aflert- cd to be in {.\\zjlates general ; whereas only three pages before, he had afferted that the whole au- thority of the nation was united in the King.
Thefe two prerogatives, of fucceeding to the throne when a King dies without mafculine pof- terity, and of governing the kingdom during the abfence or minority of the legitimate fovereign, have at all times procured to the Princes of the i
blood, a great authority among the people, and the beft part in the government. They have ap- plied themfelves accordingly with remarkable vigilance, to the adminiitratien of an Empire, which they regarded with juftice as their patri- mony : And the people, judging that they might have them one day for their tirft Magiftrates, have always fhewn them the more refpecl, as they have more than once known the younger branch- es to afcend the Throne, in default of the elder. /, Thus the Crown has palled from the Merovin- ^ '™l
gians
: Misera Servitus est, ubi jus est vagumaut incognitura. 1804.
r4 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
j* f gians to the Carlovingians, and finally to the
Capetians ; but always from mule to male, in l". . the Princes of the blood of thefe three races.
fca.ptLia/n*t From the lail of thefe dcfceaded the King Louis the eleventh, whom the innocence of his life and
Jl cJotii* t^e mteor>lty °f h*s manners, have placed in the '-*/ Y//-J number of the Saints. He left two fons, Philip
A i / L the third, furnamed the Hardy ; and Robert, Earl . of Clermont. Philip continued the elder branch, tfhxAtj* !<«<*-* which reigned more than three hundred years, ^ . . / and took the furnamc of Valois. From Robert is defcended the younger branch, or the houfe of 0>t' Bourbon, fo called, from the province, in which it pofidTcd its fettlement. This houfe, refpecta- ble not only by birth, which placed it near the throne, but alfo by the extent of its lands and riches, by the valour and number of its Princes, almofl all diftinguiilied by their merit and a liii- gular affability, arrived foon at an high degree of power. This elevation, joined to the favour of the people, excited againil the Bourbons, the jealqufy and envy of the Kings, whom this great credit and diflinguimed fplendor, difpleafed, and alarmed. Every day brought frelh occaiions of hatred, iufpicion and diftruft, which feveral times robaud broke out in arms. Thus in the war, for the pullic good, John, Duke of Bourbon, declared him- feif againft Louis the eleventh : and Louis the
* ' '
t\velfth, before his acctiiion to the throne, was at war with Peter of Bourbon. The jealoufies which thefe Princes infpired into Kings, expofed /t. ^o-rok ^«,i them lometimes to fecret vexations, and fome- ^ opho^b*-* k times to declared enmities. We may add to this . .,, reflection of DAVILA, that it is extremely proba-
•**} A "Ast $ / »
j *, ^ ble, that thefe Princes, by frequently betraying
^ fymptoms of ambition, afpiring at the throne,
U «•/«*** |( might give to Kings, juit grounds of jealoufy
and alarm. Before
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. i£ f
_ v ,
Before we proceed in our difcourfes on DAVI-^^ y^s > LA, it will affift us, in comprehending his narra-^ it & tion, as well as in making many ufeful refle6tions "*•
in morals and policy, to turn our thoughts for a few moments to the conftitution of the human mind. This 'we fhall endeavour to do in our next eflay. JC.L
No. 2.
La nature parle aux cceuvs dcs Rois, tout comme a ceux des
particulicrs.
NATURE fpeaks the fame language to the hearts of Princes, as to thofe of other men. Kings com- pare themfelves with Kings, or with fuch of their •own fubjects, as are neareil to them ; and have the fame fentiments as private perfons, of pride, vanity, jealoufy, refentment, and hatred, arifing from fuch companions, en , ^ i j
FRANCIS Ift. after his afcenfion to the throne, -ft whether he was milled by an imprudence of youth, or whether he confulted only his own beneficent difpofition, propofed to himfelf, from the iirft day of his reign, to aggrandize the Pr-inces of the blood, and load them with favours. To elevate in dignity thofe who belonged to the Royal fa- mily, by proximity of blood, he believed to be for his own glory. Having difcerned in Charles , £har the head of the branch of Bourbon, all the talents \vhich form the great Captain; and the able States- man, he gave him the office of Conftable ; and by, confering on him, and the Princes of that houfc, the moil diftinguiihed employments, he placed them at the head of the moil important affairs
of
i 6 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
of his kingdom.* This it muft be confeffed was impolitic ; iince it is always dangerous for the iirit in office or comr ...uid. to be over fond or fa- miliar with the feco-id — to confer too many op- portunities of eclipfmg his own glory, or of draw- ing away the attention of the public j or to offer too many temptations to ambition, rivalry, or envy. Accordingly the firft fire of this zeal aba- ted ; and experience having excited his jeaioufy, or policy revealed to him the reafons of the con- dud, which his predeceffors had holden ; he manifefted in the fequel as much eagernefs to lower the Bourbons, as he had at firft difcovered of affection to exalt them.
Fortune foon prefented an opportunity favor- able to his deiign. Louifa of Savoy, his mother, • / had commenced a law fuit againft Charles, for *• the Dutchy of Bourbon, in his poffeffion, Judg- es, in thofe days, were not independent. — The King thought that by influencing the decifion, in fa- vor of his mother, and by thug defpciling the Iioufe of Bourbon of the richeft portion of their patrimony, he might accelerate the declenfion of a credit, founded in part on their immenfe rich- es.— Charles, in the courfe of the proceedings, difcovered the manoeuvres, which \vere practifed to his prejudice, by the Chancellor Duprat, by order of the King, The indignation, which he conceived at this injury, and the apprehenfion of the reverfe of fortune which threatened him, ftruck him fo forcibly, that, having negociated , / / ,» fecretly with the Emperor, Charles the fifth, and (,* , M. V Henry the ^th, King of England, he confpired " *• asrainft
t O
* See the late correfpondence between the Prince of Wales 2nd his hither, brother, &c — Alfo, reccolleft the conduct of the Duke of Malborough and Qj_.een Ann and her Minis- ters.— By fuch combination of circumftances, what havoc is made with coiiftitutions and adminiftrations, — 1804.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 17
againft the State, and even againft the perfon of
the King. His defigns were difcovered ; and ,
necefliated to fly the kingdom with precipitation,
he afterwards bore arms againft his ibvereign. —
He commanded the Imperial army at the battle io >»* **«
of Pavia, in which, after the bloody defeat of the
French army, the Kincr furrounded on all fides
^ ' O
by the infantry of the enemy, remained a prif- oner. The Conftable, as a pimifhrnent of all thefe crimes, was declared a rebel : All his eftates were complicated and united to the dominions of the crown. He was killed foon after, at the taking of Rome : and there remained to the Bourbons nothing of that grandeur, which had inipired fo much umbrage to Kings. Their mif- for tunes did not ceafe here. — Although Charles was deceafed without iiTue, and the other Princes of his Houfe had not favored his revolt, refent- ment in the breaft of the King overcame his rea- fon, and the Bourbons were deprived of the fa-
* A.
vours of the court, and banimed from the eov-
*~/-
eminent. Their perfonal merit could not foften the hatred attached to their name. This rigour, it is true, diminifhed with time, and in propor- tion as the memory of the paft, and the difad- vantao;eous ideas which the Kins: had conceived
o O
of them, were effaced from his mind. Never- thelefs, he cautioufly applied himfelf, to obftruct all the paffages, by wrhich they might have re- turned to the poireffion of thofe dignities, and that power, to which royal favor had formerly raifed them. Thefe fecret difpoiitions of the King were perfectly known to Charles of Ven- dome, now at the head of that Houfe, who his moderation, ftudied to diffipate the fulpi- cions, which were entertained againft his family : in this view he refilled, during the imprifon- c ment
1 8 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA,
ment of the King, to pretend to the regency,, which belonged to him, of right. — After the King was fet at liberty, Charles fliut himfelf up with his domeftics, leading a private life, with- out meddling in the government of a State, in which he faw he was fufpected. All the other Bourbons, after his example, retired, as much to prove that they were innocent of the revolt of the Conftable, as to mark their fubmiflion to the will of the King, even when it was moit difadvantageous to them. They avoided every thing which could revive the diftruft againft them ; and, too openly in difgrace, to think of elevating thernfelves to thofe dignities which they thought alone fuitable to their birth, and too haughty to defcend to the fmaller places, they renounced all the honors and offices of the" court. The fame caufes produce the fame ef- fects. The late revolution in France, opened a profpect to the Royal- family-, not very different from that in 1515. Though the merits and in- juries of Orleans, may not be compared to thofe of a Conftable de Bourbon j - yet the pailions of 77k., 3nki <r/ a Prince of the blood of the fecond order may hereafter be painted by another DAVILA. Op- portunity will generally excite ambition to af- pire ; and if even an improbable cafe Ihould happen of an exception to this rule, danger will always be fufpected and apprehended, in fuch. circumftances, from fuch caufes. We may foon fee, that a form of government, in which every paflion has an adequate counterpoife, can alone, iecure the public from the dangers and mifchiefs,, of fuch rivalries, jealoufies, envies and hatreds..
"DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. if
No. 3.
Augufl verite !
C'cft a toi, de montrer aux yeux des nation* Les coupables effets de leurs divifions.
WHEN one family is depreffed, either in a Ivlonarchy, or in any fpecies of republic, another rnuft arife. While, in the reign of FRANCIS Ift, they thus humbled the branch of the Bourbons ; there arofe two other powerful families, who foon obtained the adminiftration of affairs : The houfe of Montmorency, and that of Guife ; bot indeed inferior to the Blood Royal ; but both illuftricus by the fplendor of the moft ancient no- bility. That of Montmorency produces Titles, which prove its defcent, by an uninterrupted fuc- cefiion, from one of the principal Grandees who accompanied Pharamond in his firft expedition. It has the glory of having been the firft French houfe which received baptifm and the Chriftian Faith. The memory of this diftinctlon is pre- ferved in the motto of their arms, God help the firft Chriftian Baron.; a fplendid teftimony both, of the antiquity and religion cf their anceftors. . , *, . Anne of Montmorency, who united a vaft ge-^hh£><* nius, directed by prudence, to a grave and im-r»»*|f<1t "*• poling deportment — who combined a lingular addrefs to a patience never to be exhauiled in the intrigues and affairs of the Court, which change fo^ often their afpeel, fprung from this flock. — His high qualities merited the confidence of -Francis Ift. After having paffed through all the military gradations of the State, he was at firft elevated to the dignity of Grand Mafter of the -King's houfehold, and after the death of the Duke
of
20 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
Bourbon, to that of Conjlabte — in one word he concentered in his perfon, the command of ai% mies, and the principal adminiftration of all the affairs, civil and political, of the kingdom. J ra^n ^le nou^e °f Lorrain, of which that of Guife is a branch, derives its original, from the high- eft antiquity. It reckons among its paternal an- ceftors, Godfrey of Bouillon, the famous leader of the Crufades, who by his valor and piety con- quered the kingdom of Jerufalem ; and by the female line it traces its defcent from a daughter
Charlemain. Anthony, of Lorrain, chief of this rich and powerful family, reigned over his people, with an abfolute authority : Claud, his younger brother, went into France to take pof- feffion of the Dutchy of Guife, and there recom- mended himfelf by his valor. — After the battle
Jof Marignan, where he commanded the German O.Yl(j v » troops, he was taken out from an heap of dead bodies, covered over with blood and wounds ; his cure was thought to be a miracle, and he held afterwards the liril rank among the greateft cap- tains of France. The houfes of Guife and Mont- morency, had rendered feryices of fuch impor- tance to the State that it was difficult to deter- mine,which of the two merited the pre-eminence. In the fplendor of their birth, and the extent of their domains, the Guifes had the advantage. — - In the favor of the King, the family of the Con- ftable was moft advanced, and faw itfelf at the TJI -^ head of affairs. Nature, which has eftablifhed in ' , the univerfe a chain of being and univerfal or- . T"der, dcfcendinq; from Arch Ancrels to microfco-
A, ?>ti»j /*•**- . 'ii^i j-j.i u- n.
f- ft AxlPlc animalcules, has ordained that no two oojects -Ihall be perfectly alike, and no two creatures per- fcclly equal. Although among men, all are fub-
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
by nature to equal laivs of morality, and in ibciety have a right to equal laws for their gov- ernment, yet no two men are perfectly equal in perfon, property, underftanding, activity and vir- tue—or ever can be made fo by any power lefs than that which created them ; and whenever k becomes difputable between two individuals, or families, which is the fuperior, a fermentation eommenceSjWhich difturbs the order of all things, until it is fettled, and each one knows his place in the opinion of the public. The queftion o fuperiority between the Guifes and Montmoren-#u cies had the ufual effects of fuch doubts. as nothing is lefs ftable than the fortune of cour- tiers, in ill-ordered governments, they both ex- perienced reverfes, towards the end of the reign of Francis the Ift. That jealoufy, which never has an end, becaufe it is always well founded, which reigns in every government, where every pailion and every intereft has not its correfpon- dent counterpoife, actuated the King. The two minifters not being fubjecl to any regular plan of relponilbility, were become dangerous rivals of their mailer : their enemies knew how to iniin- uate fufpicions. The Conftable fell into difgrace for having perfuaded the King to truft the pro- mifes of Charles the Vth. and to grant him a free paiTage through France, as he went- to chaftife the rebellion of Ghent, The Emperor not keep. ing his engagements, the King and the court ac- cuied the Conftable of having failed, either in prudence or fidelity. He was obliged to leave the court and return to private life, to conceal liimfelf from the purfuits of his enemies. The Duke of Guife was alfo conftrained to quit the court and give way to the ftorm, for having in-
curred
i / *7i
ct^\d
2-s DISCOURSES ON DAVTLA.
curred the difpleafure of the King, by caufingt& be raifed upon the frontiers, without his confent, certain troops, which he fent to the Duke of Lor rain, his brother, at that time at war with the Anabaptifts.
The Conftable, and the Duke of Guife, thus difgraced, were replaced by two minifters ofcon- fummate experience, indefatigable induftry, and acknowledged abilities ; the Admiral D'Anne- baut and the Cardinal de Tournon. The medi- ocrity of their fortune and extraction, excited little apprehenfion, that they would ever arrive, at that high power, of which the King had reafon to be jealous, and which he dreaded in the hands of his fubjecb.. This Prince, who undcrftood mankind, and was become unquiet and fufpicious fmce his difgraces, had long refolved to difmifs from his peribn, the Conftable and the Duke, notwithstanding the long confidence with which he had honored them ; believing that he mould not be able to govern, according to his own mind, while he mould have about him two per- fons, whofe credit and reputation were capable of balancing his will. He dreaded in the Con- ftable that profound experience, and that lively penetration, from which he could not conceal his moft hidden fecrets. Every thing was to him fufpicious in the Guifes, Their illuftrious birth, their reftlefs humor, their active genius, that ar- dent character to embrace every occaiion to ag- grandize themfelves, and that ambition capable of forming projects the moft vaft and daring. As the judicial courts had no independence, and there was no regular judicature for impeach- ments, there could be no rational refponfibility. The King could inflict none but arbitrary punifh- rnents j there was no tribunal, but the States
General
DISCOURSES ON'DAVILA. zt
J
General and their committees, and among thefe the minifters had as many friends as the King. — The minifters therefore thought themfelves, and as the conilitution then ftood, they really were, fo nearly equal to the King in power, that they might do as they pleafed with impunity. They preiumed too far, and the King was juftly of- fended : but had no remedy, but in the afFafTina- tion or difmifiion of his minifters — he chofe the latter ; though in the fequel we fliall fee many inftances, in iimilar cafes, of the former : In the laft years of his life, this monarch, if we may call by that name a Prince who was in efFecl, nothing more than the firft individual in a miferable oli- garchy, fecretly recommended to Prince Henry his fon, to diftruft the exceffive power of his fubjecls, and efpecially of the houfe of Guife, whofe elevation would infallibly difturb the re- pofe of the kingdom. Francis now fawand felt, that the houfe of Guife was become, as the houfe of Bourbon had been before, a dangerous rival of the houfe of Valois.
Ambition, difappointed and difgraced by a King, commonly becomes obfequious to the heir apparent, or oftenfible fucceHbr. In 1547, /^** Henry the fecond, the fucceffor of Francis the Hthrif 2. firft, difregarding the advice and example of his c^ ^ ^r father, diimiffed from his court and fervice, the Admiral and Cardinal, though poilefTed of his iccrets of the ftate ; and placed again at the head of affairs, the Conftable Anne of Montmo-^<W •»*•<» rency, and Francis of Lorrain, fon of Claud Duke of Guife, who foon engaged the confidence of the young King, and regulated every thing at his court. Their authority was equal : But, as kas been once obferved, nature has decreed, that
a p erf eft
14 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
a psrfcfl equality Jhall never long exift between anj two mortals. The views, the conduct and the characters of the two minifters, were unlike in all things. The Conftable advanced in years, was naturally fond of peace: Formed by a long ex- perience in the art of government, he enjoyed an high reputation for wifdom, and held the firft place in the conduct of affairs of ftate. TheDuke, in the flower of his age, captivated by an elevat- ed genius and fprightly wit, united with a ro- buft confutation and a noble figure, the affec-
Cj *
tions of the King. Henry treated him, almoft as his equal ; admitted him to his converfations, his pleasures, and thofe exercifes of the body which were fuitable to his age and inclination. His affection for the Conftable, was rather ven- eration : His attachment to the Duke was fa- miliarity. The conduct of the two favourites was very different ; the one an enemy of all mow. urged with a certain feverity, from which age is feldom exempted, the neceility of econo- my. He even oppofed the profufion of the Prince. His auftere virtue infpired a contempt for foreigners, and rendered him little felicitous for the affection of the French. The Duke of Guife, affable and popular, gained by his liberal- ities and politenefs, the hearts of the people and the foldiers. With a generous warmth, he pro-
O *-
tected the unfortunate, and conciliated the eileem of ftrangers.
Inclinations and conduct fo oppofite, foon pro- ^'^duced jealouiies, between the two minifters, e- qually beloved of the King. To infmuate them- ielves further into the royal graces, and make themfelves maftcrs of his favors, they exerted all their ikiil, addrcfs and efforts. Their emulation
and
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 25
ambition were Simulated by their ncarcft relations, and private friends. The Conftable was irritated by his Nephew Gafpard de CV/e/z/, Lord of Chatillon, who had fucceeded to "the£ hatitlcn. Admiral D'Annebaut, and who was not lefs dif-*/*"/^^ ** *"•' <' tinguimed for his policy, than eminent for va!-V. /. or. The Duke of Guife was animated, by the Cardinal Charles of Lorrain, his brother, who united the fplendor of the Roman purple, to a
noble figure, profound erudition and uncommon
° r eloquence.
Hence forward the daemon of rivalry, haunt- cd the two houfes of Guife and Montmorency : and fortune did not fail to open a v%aft career, to the animated emulation of the two competitor
s.
No. 4,
C'eft la le propre de 1'efprit humain, que les examples ne J'antt-ndU, corrigent perfonne ; les fottifes des peres font perdues pour leurs enfans ; il faut que chaque generation fafie les fienncs.:x/'T'^'v'" ^ --
'LET us now attempt a performance of the promifc at the clofe of our firft number : Men, in their primitive conditions, however favage, were undoubtedly gregarious — and they conti- nue to be focial, not only in every ftage of civiliza- tion, but in every poffible fituation in which they can be placed. As nature intended them for focie- ty, (he has furniflied them with paliions, appetites, and propeniities, as well as a variety of faculties, calculated both for their individual enjoyment, and to render them ufeful to each other in theix* focial connections. There is none among them
D more
25 DISCOURSES O>J DAVILA.
j moreefTential or remarkable, than the pafflon for * dijlinttkn. A defire to be obferved, coniidered, • efteemed, praifed, beloved, and admired by his fellows, is one of the earlieft, as well as keeneft difpofitions difcovered in the heart of man. If any one fhould doubt the exiftence of this pro- penfity, let him go and attentively obferve the journeymen, and apprentices in the firft work- ihop, or the oarfmen in a cockboat — a family or a neighbourhood — the inhabitants of ahoufe, or the crew of a fhip — a fchool or a college — a city, or a village— a favage, or civilized people — an hofpital, or a church — the bar, or the exchange — a camp, or a court. Wherever men, women or children, are to be found, whether they be old or young — rich or poor — high or low — wife or foolifh — ignorant or learned — every individual is feen to be ftrongly actuated by a delire to be feen, heard, talked of, approved and refpected by the people about him-, and within his knowledge.
Moral writers have, by immemorial ulage, A right to make a free ufe of the poets.
The love cf praife, howe'er conceaPd by art,
Reigns more or lefs, and glows in every heart ;
The proud to gain it, toils on toils endure,
The modeft flum it, but to make it fure.
O'er globes and fceptres, now on thrones it fwells,
Now, trims the midnight lamp in college cells.
'TJs tory, whig — it plots, prays, preaches, pleads,
H;>rrvingnes in Senates, fqueaks in mafquerades j
It aids the dancer's heel, the writer's head,
And heaps the plain with mountains of the dead ;
Nor ends with life ; but nods in fable plumes
Adorns our he'rfe, and flatters on our tombs. ty*^-*^.
A resrard to the fentiments of mankind con-
O
cerning him, and to their difpofitions towards him, every man feels within himfelf; and if he has reflected, and tried experiments, he has
found
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. «7
round, that no exertion of his rcafon — no effort of his will, can wholly divert him of it. In pro- portion to our affection for the notice of others is our averfion to their neglect ; the flronger the defirc of the eftcem of the public,the more power- ful the averfion to their difapprobation — the more exalted the wiih for admiration, the more invin- cible the abhorrence of contempt. Every man not only defires the confideration of others, but he frequently compares himfelf with others, his friends or his enemies, and in proportion as he exults when he perceives that he has more of it, than they, he feels a keener affliction when he fees that one or more of them, are more refpecr- ed than himfelf.
This paflion, while it is (imply a defire to excel another, by fair induftry in the fearch of truth, and the practice of virtue, is properly called Em- illation. When it aims at power, as a means of distinction, it is Amhtion. When it' is in a fitua- .^ tion to fuggeft the fentiments of fear and appre- henfion, that another, who is now inferior, will become fupcrior, it is denominated Jealoufy. — j When it is in a ftate of mortification, at the fu- pcricrity of another, and defires to bring him down to our level, or to deprefs him below us, it is properly called Envy. When it deceives a man into a belief of falfe profeilions of efteem or admiration, or into a falie opinion of his impor- tance in the judgment of the world, it is Vanity, Thefe obfervations alone would be fufficient to {hew, that this propeniity, in all its branches, is. a principal fource of the virtues and vices, the hap- pineis and mifery of human life ; and that the hiftory of mankind is little more than a fimp/e narration of its operation and effects,
There
\
sS DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
There is in human nature, it is true, fimpls Benevolence — or an affection for the good of others — but alone it is not a ballance for the feU f.fh affections. Nature then has kindly added to benevolence, the deiire of reputation, in order to make us good members of fociety. Speftemur agenda expreiles the great principle of activity for the good of others. Nature has fanctioned the law of felf-prefervation by rewards and punifh- ments. The rewards of felfifh activity are life and health — the punifhments of negligence and indolence are want, difeafe and death. Each individual, it is true, mould confider, that nature has enjoined the fame law on his neighbour, and therefore a refpect for the authority of nature would oblige him to refpect the rights of others as much as his own. But reafoning as abftrufe, though as fimple as this, would not occur to all men. The fame nature therefore has impofed another law, that of promoting the good, as well as refpecting the rights of mankind, and has fanctioned it by other rewards and punifhments. The rewards in this cafe,in this life, are ejleem and admiration of others — the punifhments are neglect and contempt — nor may any one imagine that thefe are not as real as the others. The deiire of the efteem of others is as real a want of nature as hunger — and the neglect and contempt of the world as fevere a pain, as the gout or ftone. It fooner and often er produces defpair, and a detef- tation of exiftence- — of equal importance to indi- viduals, to families, and to rations. — It is a prin- cipal end of government to regulate this pailion, which in its turn becomes a principal means of government. It is the only adequate inftrument of order and fubordination in fociety, and alone
commands
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
commands effectual obedience to laws, fmce with- out it neither human realbn, nor Handing armies, ' would ever produce that great effect. Every perfonal quality, and every blefling of fortune, is cheriflied in proportion to its capacity of gratify- ing this univerfal affection for the efteem, the fympathy,admiration and congratulations of the public. Beauty in the face, elegance of figure, grace of attitude and motion, riches, honors, every thing is weighed in the fcale, and defired, not fo much for the pleafure they afford, as the attention they command. As this is a point of great importance, it may be pardonable to expa- tiate a little, upon thefe particulars.
"Why are the perfonal accomplilhments of beau- ty, elegance and grace, held in fuch high eftima- tion by mankind ? Is it merely for the pleafure \vhichis received from .the fight of thefe attri- butes ? By no means : The taile for fuch delicacies is not univerfal — in thofe who feel the moil live- ly fenfe of them, it is but a flight fenfation, and of fliortelt continuance ; but thofe attractions command the notice and attention of the public — they draw the eyes of fpectators : This is the charm that makes them irreftilible. Is it for fuch fading perfections that an hufband or a wife is chofen ? Alas, it is well known, that a very fhort familiarity, totally deftroys all fenfe and attention to fuch properties ; and on the contra- ry, a very little time and habit deftroys all the averilon to uglinefs and deformity, when unat- tended with difeafe or ill-temper : Yet beauty and addrefs are courted and admired, very often, more than difcretion, wit, fenfe, and many other accomplishments and virtues, of infinitely more importance to the happinefs of private life, as
well
3* DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
well as to the utility and ornament of focietyv Is it for the momentous purpofe of dancing and drawing, painting and mufic, riding or fencing, that men and women are deftined in this life or any other ? Yet thofe who have the beft means of education, beftow more attention and expenfe on thofe, than on more folid acquiiitions. Why ? Becaufe they attract more forcibly the attention of the world, and procure a better advancement in life. Notwithstanding all this, as foon as an eflablimment in life is made, they are found to have anfwered their end, and are laid afide ne- glected.
^s t^iere an7 tnmg 'in birth, however illuftri- ous or fplendid, which mould make a difference between one man and another ? If, from a com- mon anceftor, the whole human race is defcen- ded, they are all of the fame family. How then can they dhlinguim families into the more or the lefs ancient ? What advantage is there in an il- luftration of an hundred or a thoufand years ? Of what avail are all thefe hiftories, pedigrees, traditions ? What foundation has the whole fci- ence of genealogy and heraldry ? Are there dif- ferences in the breeds of men, as there are in thofe of horfes ? If there are not, thefe fciences have no foundation m reafon — in prejudice they have a very folid one : All that philofophy can fay is, that there is a general prelumption, that a man has had fome advantages of education, if he is of a family of note. But this advantage muft be derived from his father and mother chiefly, if not wholly ; of what importance is it then, in this view, whether the family is twen- ty venerations upon record, or only two ?
The
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 31
The mighty fecret lies in this : An illuftrLous defccnt attracts the notice of mankind. A fin- gle drop of royal blood, however illegitimately Scattered, will make any man or woman proud or vain. Why ? Becaufe, although it excites the indignation of many, and the envy of more, it (till attracts the attention of the world. Noble blood, whether the nobility be hereditary or elective, and indeed more in republican govern- ments than in monarchies, leaft of all in defpo- tifms, is held in eftimation for the fame reafon. It is a name and a race that a nation has been interested in, and is in the habit of reflecting. — Benevolence, fympathy, congratulation, have been fo long ailbciated to thofe names in the minds of the people, that they are become na- tional habits. National gratitude defcends from the father to the fon, and is often flronger to the latter than the former : It is often excited by re- morfe, upon reflection on the ingratitude and in- juftice with which the former has been treated. When the names of a certain family are read in all the gazettes, chronicles, records, and hiftories of a country for five hundred years, they become known, refpected, and delighted in by every bo- dy. A youth, a child of this extraction, and bearing this name, attracts the eyes and ears of all companies long before it is known or enquir- ed, whether he be a wife man, or a fool. His name is often a greater diftinction, than a title, a ftar, or a garter. This it is which makes fo ma- ny men proud, and fo many others envious of il- luftrious defcent. The pride is as irrational and contemptible as the pride of riches, and no more. A wife man will lament that any other diftinc- ticn than that of merit mould be made. A good
rnaa
*c DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
man, will neither be proud nor vain of his birth 5 but will earneitly improve every advantage he has for the public good. A cunning man will carefully conceal his pride ; but will indulge it in fecret, the more effectually, and improve his advantage to greater profit. But was any man ever known fo wife, or fo good, as really to def- pife birth or wealth ? Did you ever read of a man riling to public notice, from obfcure begin- ings,who was not reflected on ? Although with ev- ery liberal mind, it is an honor, and a proof of merit, yet it is a difgrace with mankind in gene- ral.— What a load of fordid obloquy and envy has every fuch man to carry ? The contempt that is thrown upon obfcurity of anceftry aug- ments the eagernefs for the flupid adoration that is paid to its illuftration.
This deiire of the coniideration of our fellow- men, and their congratulations in our joys, is not lefs invincible, than the defire of t'leir fym- pathy in our forrows. It is a determination of our nature thatlies at the foundation of ourwhole moral fyftem in this world, and may be connect- ed effentially with our deftination in a future ftate. Why do men purfue riches ? What is the end of avarice ? — Thefe queilions maybe anfwer- edin our next.
No. 5.
O furexir de fe diftinguer, que ne pouvez vous point !
THE labour and anxiety, the enterprizes, and adventures, that are voluntarily undertaken in purfuit of gain, are out of all proportion to the
utility
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 33
utility, convenience or pleafure of riches. A competence to fatisfy the wants of nature, food and cloaths, a flicker from the feafons, and the comforts of a family, may be had for very little. The daily toil of the million, and of millions o£ millions, is adequate to a complete fupply of thefe iieceffities and conveniences. With fuch accom- modations thus obtained, the appetite is keener, the digeftion more eafy and perfect, and repofe is more refrefhing, than among the moil abun- dant fuperlluities and the rarell luxuries. For what reafbn then, are any mortals averfe to the fituation of the farmer, mechanic or labourer ? — Why do we tempt the feas, and encompafs the globe ? Why do any men affront heaven and earth, to accumulate wealth, which will forever be ufelefs to them ? Why do we make an often- tatious difplay of riches ? Why mould any man be proud of his purfe, houfes, lands, or gardens ? or in better words, why mould the rich man glory in his riches ? What connection can there be between wealth and pride ?
The anf\ver to all thefe queflions is, beca- . riches attract the attention, confederation and con^r\:. •-- I'.latiom of mankind ; it is not becaufe the rich have really more of eafe or pleafure than the poor. Riches force the opinion on aman that he is the object of the congratulations of others ; and he feels that they attract the complaifance of the public. His fenfes all inform him that his neigh- bors have a natural difpofition to harmonize with all thofe pleating emotions^ and agreeabfe fenfations, which the elegant accommodations around him are fuppofed to excite.
His imagination expands,and his heart dilates at
thefe charming illulions : and his attachment to
s his
24 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
his poffeffions increafes, as fail as his defire to ac- cumulate more : not for the purpofes of benefi- cence or utility, but from the defire of illuftra- tion.
Why, on the other hand, {hould any man be a- fhamed to make known his poverty? Why fhould thofe who have been rich, or educated in the hou- fes of the rich, entertain fuch an averlion, or be agitated with fuch terror, at the profpect of lof- Ing their property ? Or of being reduced to live at an humbler table ? In a meaner houfe ? To walk inftead of riding ? Or to ride without their accuftomed equipage or retinue ? Why do we hear of madnefs, melancholy, and fuicides, upon bankruptcy, lofs of mips, or any other fudden fall from opulence to indigence, or mediocrity ? Afk your reafon, what difgrace there can be in pov- erty ? What moral fentiment of approbation, praife or honor can there be in a palace ? What difhonor in a cottage ? What glory in a coach, what fhame in a waggon ? Is not the fenfe of propriety, and fenfe of merit, as much connected with an empty purfe, as a full one ? May not a man be as eftimable, amiable and refpeclable, at- tended by his faithful dog, as if preceded and followed by a train of horfes and fervants ? AH thefe queftions may be very wife ; and the ftoical philofophy has her anfwers ready. But if you afk the fame queftions of nature, experience, and mankind, the anfwers will be directly oppofite to thofe of Epiffetus, viz. that there is more refpec- tability in the eyes of the greater part of man- kind, in the gaudy trappings of wealth, than there is in genius or learning, wifdom or virtue.
The poor man's confidence is clear ; yet he is aihamed. Hi* character is irreproachable, yet
he
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 35-
he is neglected and defpifed. He feels himfelf out of the fight of others, groping in the dark. Mankind take no notice of him : he rambles and wanders unheeded. In the midit of a, croud, at church, in the market, at a play, at an execution or coronation, he is in as much obfcu- rity, as he would be in a garret or a cellar. He is not difapproved, cenfured or reproached : he is only not fcen. This total inattention is to him, mortifying, painful and cruel. He fuffers a mifery from this confideration, which is fhar- pened by the confcioumefs that others have no fellow feeling with him in this diftrefs. If you follow thefe perfons,however,into their fcenes of life, you will find that there is a kind of figure which the meaneft of them all, endeavors to make; a kind of little grandeur and refpect, which the moft inflgnificant ftucly and labour to procure, in the fmall circle of their acquaintances. Not only the pooreft mechanic, but the man who lives upon common charity, nay the common beggars in the ftreets ; and not only thofe who may be all innocent, but even thofe who have abandoned themfelves to common infamy as pi- rates, highwaymen and common thieves, court a fet of admirers, and plume themfelves on that fuperiority, which they have, or fancy they SWe, over fome others. There muft be one indeed who is the laft and loweft of the human fpecies. But there is no rifk in afierting that there is no one, who believes and will acknowledge himfelf to be the man. To be wholly overlooked and to know it, are intolerable. Inftances of this are not uncommon. When a wretch could no lon- ger attract the notice of a man, woman or child, he muft be refpectable in the eyes of his dog.-*— " Who will love me then :" was the pathetic re-
P1/
36 DISCOURSES O NDAVILA.
ply of one, who ilarved himfclf to feed his mas- tiff, to a charitable paffenger who advifed him to kill or fell the animal. In this " isjko 'will love me then" there is a key to the human heart — to the hiftory of human life and manners — and to the rife and fall of Empires. To feel ourfelves unheed- ed, chills the moft pleafing hope — damps the moft fond delire — checks the moil agreeable wifh— difappoints the moft ardent expectations of human nature.
\ • Is there in fcience and letters, a reward for the
^' labor they require ? Scholars learn the dead lan- guages of antiquity, as well as the living tongues of rncdern nations. Thofe of the eaft as well as the weft. They puzzle themfelves and others with metaphyiics and mathematics. They renounce their pleasures, neglect their exercifes, and deflroy their health : For what ? Is curiofi- ty fo ftrong ? Is the pleafure that accompanies the purfuit and acquisition of knowledge fo ex- quilite ? If Critfoe, on his ifland, had the library of Alexandria, and a certainty that he Ihould nev- er again fee the face of man, would he ever open a volume ? Perhaps he might ; but it is very prob- able he would read but little. A fenfe of duty ; a, love of truth ; a defire to alleviate the anxie- ties of ignorance, may, no doubt, have an influ- ence on fome minds. But the univerfal object and idol of men of letters is reputation. It is the •notoriety, the celebration, which conilitutes the charm, vdiich is to compenfate the lofs of appe- tite and fleep, and fometimes of riches and hon- ors.
The fame ardent defire of the congratulations of ethers in our joys, is the great incentive to the purfuit of honors. -This might be exemplified in
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 37
the career of civil and political life. That we may not be too tedious, let us inftance in milita- ry glory.
Is it to be fuppofed that the regular ftanding armies of Europe, engjaq-e in the fervice, from
£ -e Pr •» * i • a-
pure motives or patnotiim ? Are their omcers men of contemplation and devotion, who expect their reward in a future life ? Is it from a fenfe of moral, or religious duty, that they rilk their lives, and reconcile themfeives to wounds ? Inftances of all thefe kinds may be found. But if any one fuppofes that all, or the greater part of thefe heroes, are actuated by fuch principles, he will only prove that he is una^qainted with them. Can their pay be confidered as an ade- quate encouragement ? This, which is no more than a very fimple and moderate fubfiftence, would never be a temptation to renounce the chances of fortune in other purfuits, together with the pleafures of domeftic life, and fubmit to thismoftdifficultand dangerous employment. No, it is the confideration and the chances of laurels, which they acquire by the fervice,
The foldier compares himlelf with his fellows, and contends for promotion to be a Corporal : the Corporals vie with each other to be Sergeants: the Sergeants will mount breaches to be Enligns : and thus every man in an army is conftantly af- piring to be fomething higher, as every citizen in the commonwealth is conftantly ftruggling for a better rank, that he may draw the oblervation of more eyes.
38 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
No. 6.
Such bribes the rapid Greek o'er Afia hurl'd ; For fuch, the fteady Romans (hook the world.
A city or a village, little employments and trifling diilinctions are contended for with equal eagernefs, as honors and offices in common- wealths and kingdoms.
, What is it that bewitches mankind to marks
// rirA5, and figns ? A Ribbon ? A Garter ? A Star ? A gol- den Key ? A Marfhall's Staff ? Or a white hick"- ory Stick ? Though there is in fuch frivolities, as thefe, neither profit nor pleafure, nor any thing amiable, eftimable or refpectable ; yet experience teaches us, in every country of the world, they attract the attention of mankind more than parts or learning, virtue or religion. They are there- fore fought with ardor, very often, by men pof- feffed in the mofl eminent degree, of all the more folid advantages of birth and fortune, merit and fervices, with the beft faculties of the head, and the moil engaging recommendations of the heart. a >n e, Fame has been divided into three fpecies : Glo- ry, which attends the great actions of lawgivers and heroes, and the management of the great commands and firft offices of State : Reputation, which is cherifhed by every gentleman : and Cre* f , ~j, dit, which is fupported by merchants and tradef- ^ * men. But even this divifion is incomplete, becaufc
the defire andtheobjectof it,thoughit may be con- lidered in various lights,and under different mod*, ifications, is not confined to gentlemen nor mer- chants, but is common to every human being. — There are no men, who are not ambitious of dif- tinguiihjng themfelves, and growing confidera-
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 59
ble among thofe, with whom they converfe.-- This ambition is natural to the human foul : and as when it receives a happy turn, it is the fource of private felicity and public profperity ; and when it errs, produces private uneafinefs and public calamities. It is the bufmefs and duty of private prudence,of private and public education, and of national policy, to direct it to right ob- jects. For this purpofe it mould be confidered, that to every man who is capable of a worthy conduct, the pleafure from the approbation of \vorthy men is exquiiite and inexpreffible,
It is curious to confider the final caufes o£ things, when the phyfical are wholly unknown. The intellectual and moral qualities, are moft \vithin our power, and undoubtedly the moft ef- fential to our happinefs. The perfonal qualities of health, ftrength, and agility, are next in im- portance. Yet, the qualities of fortune, fuch as birth, riches, and honors, though a man has lefs reafon to efteem himfelf for thele, than for thofe of his mind or body, are, every where acknow- ledged, to glitter with the brighteft luftre, in the eyes of the world.
As virtue is the only rational fource, and eter- jial foundation of honor, the wifdom of nations, in the titles they have eilablifhed as the marks of order and fubordination, has generally given an intimation, not of perfonal qualities, nor of the qualities of fortune ; but of fome particular vir- tues, more efpecially becoming men., in the high ftations they poitefs. Reverence is attributed to the Clergy — veneration to {Vlagiftrates — honor to Senators — ferenity, clemency, or mildnefs of difpoiition to Princes. The fovereign authority and iupreme executive, have commonly titles
that
40 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
that defignate power as well as virtue — as ty to Kings — magnificent, moft honored, and fovereign Lords, to the government of Geneva —noble mightinefTcs to the States of Friefland • — noble and mighty Lords to the States of Guel- derland — noble great and venerable Lords to the regency of Ley den — noble and grand mighti- neffes to the States of Holland — noble great and venerable Lords, the regency of Amsterdam — no- ble mightinefles, the States of Utrecht — and high mightineffes the States General.
A death bed, it is faid, {hews the emptine.fs of titles. That may be. But does it not equally ftiew the futility ot ricliefs, power,liberty, and all earthly things ? The cloucl-capt towers, the gor- geous palaces, the folemn temples, the great globe itfelf, appear the bafelefs fabric of a viiion, and life itfelf a tale, told by an ideot, full of found and fury, fignifying nothing. Shall it be infer- red from this, that fame, liberty, property and life, mall be always defpifed and neglected ? Shall laws and government, which regulate fublunary things be neglected, becaufe they appear baubles at the hour of death ?
The wifdom and virtue of all nations have en- deavored to regulate the paffion for refpecl and diftinction, and to reduce it to fome order in fo- ciety, by titles marking the gradations of magif- tracy, to prevent, as far as human power and po- licy can prevent, collifions among the paflions of many purming the fame objects, and the rival- ries, animofities, envy, jealoufy and vengeance, which always refult from them.
Has there ever been a nation, who underftood
'<ri/.the human heart, better than the Romans ? Or
made a better ufe of the pafiion, for confidera-
tion,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. >.t
tion, congratulation and diftincHon ? They con-
fidered, that as reafon is the guide of Hie, the
fcnfe:--, t'l? imagination and the -ilicc'tions are the
fprings of activity. Re ifoi holds the heiri, but
pafllons are the gales : and as the direct mid *
to thefe is through the fcnics, the language of
figns was employed by Roman v/if Join to ex-
cite the emulation and active virtue of the citi-
zens. D,ftin£li';)is of condition?, as well as of ages,
were made by difference of cloathing. The Lat-*/«
iclave, or large flowing Robe, ftudded with
broad fpot; t.-/ purple, the ancient diftinction of
their Kings, was, after the eftabiifhment of the
Confuh-.e, worn by the Senators, through the
whole period of the Republic and the Empire. —
The Tribunes of the people, were, after their In-
fHtution, admitted to wear the fame venerable
fignal of fanctity and authority. The An^ufti-
clave, or the fmaller robe, with narrower ihids
of purple, was the diftingulfhing habit of Roman.
Knights* The golden Ring was alib peculiar to
Senators and Knights, and was not permitted to
be worn .by any other citizens. The Praetext, or
long white Robe reaching down to the ancles,
bordered with purple, which was worn by the
principal Magiilrates, fuch as Confuls, Praetors,
Cenfors and fometimes on folemn feftivals, by
Senators. The chairs of ivory ; the lictors ^ J
the rods ; the axes ; the crowns of gold ; of i-
vory ; of flours ; of herbs ; of laurel branches 5
and of oak-leaves ; the civil and the mural Ju^r^ J'/erv^-t ^
crowns ; their ovations ; and their triumphs jc/^v<J-//i A*X ^<.c
everything in religion, government and com- ^'t/l> V
*•• *• *
mon life, arnongr the Romans, was parade, repre- /• f.
r • i r> i • ' ' ' ' ^
ientation and ceremony, hvery thing was ad- drefled to the emulation of the citizens, and'ev-
? ery
4* DISeOURSES ON DAVILA,
i k, Jl*4 cry thing was calculated to attract the attention* U 6/)W^ to a^ure tne confideration, and excite the con-
o-ratulations of the people ; to attach their hearts *°
* t .,..,,.. ,. , .
^ to individual citizens according to their merit ;
-
vl - and to their lawgivers, magiftrates, and judges,
l\itr*f> $*tcnrU> according to their ranks, ftations and importance r { • in the State. And this was in the true fpirit of
T>. . Lf. 4 ^J) (n^* **& T -• • i-ir r ^i-
republics, in which form or government there is
'Aa.-/-J avt no other coniiilent method of preferving order,
>»t<^c c.xhi~*iu< or procuring fubmiffion to the laws. To fuch
A, ^, f^vn< means as thefe, or to force, and a (landing army,
*. _ , recourfe muft be had, for the guardianfhip of
jtnrf A*t/«-*.ttty /•* laws, and the protection of the people. Itisuni-
verfally true, that in all the Republics now re- maining in Europe, there is, as there ever has been, a more conitant and anxious attention to fuch forms and marks of diftinctions, than there is in the Monarchies.
The policy oi" Rome was exhibited in its high* c^ perfe&ic111? in the triumph of Paulus Emilliu* over Perfeus. It was a ftriking exemplification of congratulation and fympathy, contrafted with each other. Congratulation with the conqueror : fympathy with the captive : both fuddenly changed into fympathy with the conqueror. — The description* of this triumph, is written with a pomp of language correfpondent to its dazzling magnificence. The reprefentation of the King, and his children, muft excite the pity of every reader who is not animated with the fe- rocious fentiments of Roman infolence and pride. Never was there a more moving leiibn of the melancholy lot of humanity, than the contrafled fortunes of the Macedonian and the Roman. — The one tlivefted of his crown and throne, led in chains, with his children before his chariot
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 4S
the other, blazing in gold and purple, to the cap-
itol. This inftructive leffon is given us by the
victor himfelf, in a fpeech to the people. " My
" triumph, Romans, as if it had been in deriiion
" of all human felicity, has been interpofed be-
" twecn the funerals of my children, and both
" have been exhibited, as fpecbicles, before you.
" Perfeus, who, himfelf a captive, faw his chll-
" dren led with him in captivity, now enjoys
" them in fafety. I, who triumphed over him,
" having afcended the capitol, from the funeral
" chariot of one of my ions, defcended from
" that capitol, to fee another expire. In the / /K/?/ ^71
*' houfe ofPaulus none remains but himfelf. But ^P*^*- •
*' your felicity, Romans, and the profperous forw " tune of the public, is aconfolation to me under J^^ " this deftruftion of my family."
It is eafy to fee how fuch a fcene muft operate on the hearts of a nation : how it muft affecl the paflion for diftinction : and how it muft excite the ardor and virtuous emulation of the citizens.
No. 7.
The Senate's thanks, the Gazette's pompous talc, With force refiftlels, o'er the brave prevail. This power has praife, that Virtue icarce can warm, Till fame fupplies the univerfal charm. Jc&nJ0H.
THE remit of the prcceeding difcourfes is, that avarice and ambition, vanity and pride, jealoufy and envy, hatred and revenge, as well as the love of knowledge and defire of fame are
very
44 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
very often nothing more than various modifica* tionsofthat defireofthe attention, confidera- tion and congratulations of our fellow men, which is the great fpring of focial activity •, that all Tiicn compare tbemfelves with others, efpe- ciaily thofe with whom they moil frequently converfe ; thofe, \vho, by their employments or Limufements, profcilions or offices, prefent them- felves moil frequently, at the fame time to the view and thoughts of that public, little or great, to which every man is known, that emulations and rivalries naturally, and neceffarily are excited by fuch companions ; that the mofl heroic ac- tions iruwar, the fublimeft virtues in peace, and the moft ufefcl induilry in agriculture,"arts, man- ufactures and commerce, proceed from fuch ernu- huiors, on the one hand, and iealouiies, envy, cr.iTiity, hatred, revenge, quarrels, factions, fedi- lions and wars, on the other. The final caufe of JpYina h this conftitutiop of things is eafy to difcover.— ClLhv<t' ' "' '•'ure ^as ordained it, us a conftant incentive to activity and induilry, that, to acquire the atten- •x-K&iu tion and cornphc :ercy, the approbation and ad- ^TM-fc'^ miration of their fellows, men might be urged to 'conftant exertions of beneficence. By this def- tination of their natures, men of all forts, even ^^w*^ thofe who have the leaft of reafon, virtue or ben- evolence, are chained down to an inceifant fervi- tude to their fellow-creatures, labouring without iiUermiillon to produce fomething which mail contribute to the comfort, convenience, pleaiure, profit or utility of fome or other of the fpecies ; they are really thus conftituted by their own vanity, flaves to mankind. Slaves, I fay again : for what a folly is it ? On a felfiih fyftem, what zre the thoughts, paffions and fentiments of man- kind
c.
cc
ti,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 45
kind to us ? What is fame ? A fancied life, in others brcith. "What is it to us, what fliall be faid of us, after we are dead ? Or in Alia, Afri- ca, or Europe, while we live ? There is no great- er pofliUe or imaginable dclufion : yet the im- pulfe is irrefutable. i he language of nature to man in his conflitution ij this, tw I have given " you reafon, conscience, and benevolence : and thereby made you accountable for your actions, and capable of virtue, in which \ cu will find your higheit felicity. But 1 have not confid- ed wholly in your laudable improvement of thefe divine gifts. To them I have iupeiad- " ded a pailion in your bofoms, for the notice *' and regard of your fellow mortals, which, if ^ you perverfely violate your duty, and wholly " neglect the part afligned you, in the f)ftem of " the world, and the iociety of mankind, fliall " torture you, from the cradle to the grave."
Nature has taken effectual care of her own work. She has wrought the paffions into the texture and clTence of the foul — and has not left it in the power of art to deftroy them. To re- gulate and not to eradicate them is the province of policy. It is of the higheil importance to edu- cation, to life and to fociety, not only that they fliould not be deftroyed, but that they fliould be gratified, encouraged, and arranged on the fide of virtue. To confine our obfervations at pre- fent to that great leading pailion of the foul, which has been fo long under our consideration : What clifcouragement, cliitrefs and defpair, have not been occasioned by its difappointment ? To confider one inflance, amqng many, which hip- pen continually in fchcols and colleges. Put a fuppofition of a pair of twin brothers, who have
been
46 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
been nouriflied by the fame nurfe, equally en- couraged by their parents and preceptors, with equal genius, health and ftrcngth, purfuing their ftudies with equal ardor and fuccefs. One, is at length overtaken by fome ficknefs, and in a fe\r •days the other, who efcapes the influenza, is ad- vanced fome pages before him. This alone will make the ftudies of the unfortunate chiJd,when he recovers his health, difguftful. As foon as he lofes the animating hope of pre-eminence, and is conftrained to acknowledge, a few others of hi* fourm or clafs, h's fuperiors, he becomes incapa- ble of induftrious application. Even the fear of the ferule or the rod, will after this be ineffectu- al, The terror of punimment, by forcing atten- tion, may compel a child to perform a tafk— • but can never infufe that ardor for ftudy, which alone can arrive at great attainments. Emula- tion really feems to produce genius, and the de- iire of fuperiority to create talents. Either- this, or the reverfe of it, muft be true ; and genius produces emulation, and natural talents, the de- lire of fuperiority — for they are always found together, and what God and nature have uniteds let no audacious legiflator prefume to put afun- der. When the love of glory inkindies in the heart, and influences the whole foul, then, and only then, may we depend on a rapid progreffio.n of the intellectual faculties. The awful feeling i of a mortified emulation, is not peculiar to chil- '. dren. In an army, or a navy, fometimes the in- » tereft of the fervice requires, and oftener perhaps Y private interefl and partial favor prevail, to pro* mote officers over their fuperiors, or feniors. — > But the confequence is, that thofe officers can never ferve again together. They muft be dif-
tributed
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. ^
tlributed in different corps, or lent on different commands. Nor is this the worft effect : It al- moft univerfally happens, that the fuperceded officer feels his heart broken by his difgrace.— « His mind is enfeebled by grief, or difturbed by refentment — and the inftances have been very rare, of any brilliant action performed by fuch, an officer. What a monument to this character ^
of human nature is the long lift of yellow Ad- IftU***- mirals in the Britifli fervice ! — Confider the e£» feels of fimilar difappointments in civil affairs. Minifters of State, are frequently difplaced in all Jt*£* ^ countries — and what is the confequence ? Are they feen happy in a calm refignation to their fate ? Do they turn their thoughts from their former employments, to private ftudies or bufi- jaefs ? Are they men of pleafant humour, and engaging converfation ? Are their hearts at eafe ? Or is their converiation a conftant effufion of complaints and murmurs, and their breaft the refidence of refentment and indignation, of grief and forrow, of malice and revenge ? Is it common to fee a man get the better of his am- bition, and defpife the honors he once poiTeffed j or is he commonly employed in projects upon projects, intrigues after intrigues, and manceu- vers on manceuvers to recover them ? So fweet and delightful to the human heart is that com- placency and admiration, which attends public offices, whether they are conferred by the favor of a Prince, derived from hereditary defcent,orob- tained by election of the people, that a mind muft be funk below the feelings of humanity, or exal- ted by religion or philofophy far above the com- mon character of men, to be infenfible, or to conquer its fcnfibility. Preteofign* tg fuch con-
quefts
45 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
quefts are not uncommon ; but the fincerity of fuch pretenders is often rendered fufpicious, by their conftant converfation and conduct, and e- ven by their countenances. The people are fo fenlible of this, that a man in this predicament is always on the compaffionate lift, and, except in cafes of great refentmerit againft him for forae very unpopular principles or behavior, they are found to be always ftudying fome other office for a difappointed man, to confole him in his af- fliction. In fhort, the theory of Education, and the fcience of government, may be reduced to the fame fnnple principle, and be all comprehen- ded in the knowledge of the means of activity, conducting, controling and regulating the emu- lation and ambition of the citizens.
No. 8,
ri&ud <' u> CL**
This mournful truth is every where confefs'^
Slow rlfes Worth by Poverty deprefs'd.
IF we attempt to analyze our ideas ftill fur-
ther, upon this fubject., we mall find, that the
expredions we have hitherto ufed, attention, con-
Jtderation and congratulation, comprehend with
fu'ticient accuracy, the general object of the paf-
lion for diftinction, in the greater part of man-
-•Y , kind. There are not a few, from him who burn-
***'. tj cd a temple, to the multitudes who plunge into
** low debauchery, who deliberately feek it by
crimes and vices. The greater number, howev-
er, fearch for it, neither by vices nor virtues :
But by the means, which common fenfe and ev-
ery,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
49
evy diy's experience fhows, arc moft fure to ob- tain it ; by riclies, by family records, by play, and other frivolous perfonal accompliiliments.— But there are a few, and God knows but a few, who aim at fomething more : They aim at ap- probation as well as attention ; at eileem as well as confideration ; and at admiration and grati- tude, as well as congratulation. Admiration is indeed the complete idea of approbation, congrat- tilation,and wonder united. This laii defcription of perions is the tribe out of which proceeds your patriots and heroes, and mod of the great benefactors to mankind. But for our humilia- tion, we mull (till remember, that even in thefe .« cfteemed/ beloved and adored characters, the pafiion, although refined by the pureft moral fen- timents, and intended to be governed by the beft principles, is a paifion ftill ; and therefore, like ,/*//«'<*-•» - all other human defires, unlimited and infatiable. No man was ever contented with any given lhare of this human adoration. When Caefar de- clared that he had lived enough to glory ; Casfar might deceive himfelf, but he did not deceive the world, who faw his declaration contradicted by every action of his fubfequent life. Man con- flantly craves for more, even when he has no rival : But when he fees another poffeficd of more, or drawing away from himfelf a part of what he had, he feels a mortification, ariilng from the lofs of a good he thought his own :— Kisdefire is disappointed : The pain of a want unfatisfied, is increafcdby a rcfentment of an in- juftice, as he thinks it : lie accufeshis rival of a theft or robbery, and the public of taking away, what was his property, and giving it to another.
r| f* I g Tftft 'i r< rvo *\ T-* ^-r •%* .-\*s* ^ i- * •*-* ,~* ^ 4. .-. — _ 1 L. i. T_ „ — .
leehngs and refentments, are but other c names
50 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA*
names for jealoufy and envy ; and altogether they produce fome of the keeneft and moft tor- menting of all fentiments. Thefe fermentations of the paflions are fo common and fo well known, that the people generally prefume, that a perfon in fuch circumftanccs, is deprived of his judg- ment, if not of his veracity and reafon. It is ton generally a fufficient anfwer to any complaint, to any fact alledged, or argument advanced, tcr fay that it comes from a difappointed man.
There is a voice within us, which Teems to in- timate, that real merit fhould govern the world ; p^tlfc* and that men ought to be refpecled only in proportion to their talents, virtues and fervices. But the queftion always has been, how can this arrangement be aceompliihed ? How ihall the men of merit be difcovered ? How fhall the pro- portions of merit be afcertained and graduated I Who mall be the judge ? When the government of a great nation is in q.uefcion, mall the whole nation choofe ? Will fuch a choice be better than chance ? Shall the whole nation vote for Senators ? Thirty millions of votes, for exam- ple, for each Senator in France ! It is obvious- that this would be a lottery of millions of blanks to one prize, and that the chance of having wif« dom and integrity in a Senator by hereditary defcent would be far better. There is no indi- vidual perfonally known to an hundredth part of the nation. The voters then muft be expofed to deception, from intrigues and manoeuvres, without number, that is to fay, from all the chi- canery, impoftures and fallhoods imaginable, with fcarce a poffibility of prefering real merit. Will you divide the nation into ciiftri&s, and let each.diftricl: choofe a Senator ? This is giving up
the
jDISCOURSES ON DAVILA. $i
tlie idea of national merit, and annexing the ho- nor and the truft to an accident, that of living on a particular fpot. An hundred or a thoufand men .of the firft merit in a nation, may live in one city, and none at all of this defcription in feveral whole provinces. Real merit is fo remote from the knowledge of whole nations, that were magi- flrates to be chofen by that criterion alone, an4 by an univerfal fuftrage, diffentions and venality would be endlefs. The difficulties arifing from this fource, are fo obvious and univerfal, that na- tions have tried all forts of experiments to avoid them.
As no appetite in human nature is more uni- verfal than that for honor, and real merit is con- fined to a very few, the numbers who thirft for refpect, are out of all proportion to thofe who feek it only by merit. The great majority trou- ble themfelves little about merit, but apply them- felves to feek for honor, by which means they fee will more eafily and certainly obtain it, by difplay- ing their tafte and addrefs, their wealth and mag- nificence, their ancient parchments, pictures, and , ilatues, and the virtues of their anceftors ; and if thefe fail, as they feldom have done, they have recourfe to artifice, difiimulation, hypocrify, flat- tery, impofture, empiricifm, quackery and bribe- ry. What chance has humble, modeft, obfcure and poor merit, in fuch a fcramble ? Nations, per- ceiving that the ftill fmall voice of merit, was drowned in the infolent roar of fuch dupes of impudence and knavery, in national elections, without a poflibility of a remedy ,'have fought for fomething more permanent than the popular voice to delignate honor. Many nations have attempted tp annex it to land? prefuming that a • ' ' good
>t£
C(
52 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
good eflate would at leaft furniSh means of a goo ! education ; and have refolved that thofe who Should poffefs certain territories, mould have cer- tain legislative, executive and judicial powers, o- ver the people. Other nations have endeavour- ed to connect honor with offices ; and the names and ideas at leaft of certain moral virtues-and in- :ellectual qualities have been by law annexed to :ertain offices, as veneration, grace, excellence, honor, ferejiity, majefty. Other nations have at- tempted to annex honor to families, without re- gard to lands or offices. The Romans allowed none, but thofe who had porTeffed curule offices, to have Statues or portraits. He, who had ima- ges or pictures of his anceftors, \vs,,s called noble. He who had no ftatue or pictures but. his own, was called a new man. Thofe who had none at all, were ignoble. Other nations have united all thofe inftitutions ; connected lands, offices and families— made them all defcend together, and honor, public attention, confideration and con- gratulation, along with them. This has been the A H f policy of Europe ; and it is to this institution ^ a. Jrufk: ^^n fhe owes her fuperiority in war and peace, l/7W ''V "* in legislation and commerce, in agriculture, na- i rjulv^b* vigation, arts, fciences and manufactures, to Afia ft i and Africa. Uiefe families, thus distinguished by property, honors and privileges, by defend- ing themfelves, have been obliged to defend^the . 'litu *™ people againft the encroachments of defpotifm. -y They have been a civil and political militia, con- M' , J" ^ ftantly watching the defigns of the ftanding ar- ''' / '/r/roies, and courts; and by defending their own : ^v/^cy'^j-ights, liberties, properties, and privileges, they t-n £vi«^-*«^have been obliged, in fome degree, to defend Ttrf thofe of the people, by making a common cauie j ,. * , f y J ft, with
£ 3,H- 1 ' '*** ., / 4 '
I fr.itJ'Y^
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. . 53
\vlth them. But there were feveral efTcntial *i*l clef-efts in this policy : one was that the peo- ple took no rational meafures to defend them- felves, either againft thefe great families, or the courts. They had no adequate reprefentation of themfelves in th^ fovereignty. Another was that /".*:'/ /
w"
it never was determined where the fovereignty
— ^""**'' "
refided— generally it was claimed by Kings; rot admitted by the nobles. Sometimes every Baron pretended to be fovereign in his own ter- ritory ; at other times the fovereignty was claim- ed by an afiembly of nobles, under the name of States or Cortes. Sometimes the United au- thority of the King and States was called the fove- reignty. The common people had no adequate and independent fhare in the legiflatures, and found themfelves harraiiedto difcover who was the fove- reign, and whom they ought to obey, as much as they ever had been or could be to determine who had the moil merit- A thoufand years of Ba- rons* wars, caufing univerfal darknefs, ignorance and barbarity,ended at laft infimple monarchy ,not by exprefs ftipulation, but by tacit acquiefcence, in almoft all Europe ; the people prefering a cer- tain fovereignty in a lingleperfon, to endiefs dif- putes, about merit and fovereignty, which never did and never will produce any thingbutariftocra- tical anarchy ; and the nobles contenting them- felves with a fecurify of their property and privi- leges,bya government of fixed Jaws, regiftered and interpreted by a judicial power, which they cal- led fovereign tribunals, though the legiflation and execution were in a fingle perfon. In this fyftem to controul the nobles, the church joined the Kings and common people.
The progrefs of reafon, letters and fcience, has
weakened
54. DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
weakened the church and ftrengthened the com* rnon people ; who, if they are honed ly and pHj« 'dently conducted by thofe who have their confi- deuce, will mofl infallibly obtain a {hare in eve- ry legiflaturt;. But if the common people are advifed to aim at collecting the whole fovereign- ty in fingle national afiemblies, as they are by the Duke de la Rochefoucaidt and the Marquis of Con-
j ., -/, ,. . r i r»
dsrcet ; or at the abolition or the Regal executive authority ; or at a divlion of the executive pow* er, as they are by a pofthumous publication of the Abby de Mably* they will fail of their defired liberty, as certainly as emulation and rivalry are founded in human nature, and infeparable from civii affa;rs. jt js not to flatter the paffions of the people, to be lure, ncr is it the way to obtain & a prefent enthufiaftic popularity, to tell them that ^n a ^ng^e ^ffenibly, they will acl: as arbitrarily and tyramcally as any clefpot, but it is a facred
^iij j j
truth, and as demonltrable as any proportion whatever, that a fovereignty in a lingle afiembly mu-ft neceffarily, and will certainly be exercifed by a majority, as tyrannically as any fovereignty was ever exercifed by Kings or Nobles. And if a ballance of paffions and interefts is not fcientifi- cally concerted, the prefent ftruggle in Europe * *«^JA iyill be little beneficial to mankind, and produce nothing but another thoufand years of feudal fanaticifm, under new and flrange names.
The Abby's Project has fmce been tried in a quintuple
DISCOURSES ON Dnv iju,-x. 55
No. 9.
Tis from high life, high characters are drawn,
A Saint in trafe, is twice a Saint in lawn. jQ^>^
PROVIDENCE, which has placed one thing over againft another, in the moral as well as phy- lical world, has furpriiingly accommodated the qualities of men, to anf\ver one another. There is a remarkable difpofition in mankind to con- gratulate with others in their joys and profperi- ty, more than to fympathife wich them in their borrows and adverilty. We may appeal to expe- rience. There is lefs difpoiition t-j congratuLi- tion with genius, talents, or virtue, than there is with beauty, ftrength and elegance of perfon ; and lefs with thefe than with the gifts of fortune and birth, wealth and fame. The homage of the world is devoted to thefe laft, in a remarkable manner. Experience concurs with religion in pronouncing, molt decisively, that this world is not the region of virtue or happinefs ; both are here at fchool, and their ftruggles with ambition, avarice, and the deiire of fame, appear to be their difcipline and exercife The gifts of fortune are more level to the capacities, and more obvious to the notice of mankind in general ; arid congratu- lation with the happinefo, or fancied happinefs of others, is agreeable ; fympathy with their mifery is difagreeable : from the former fources we de- rive pleafure, from the latter pain. The forrow of the company at a funeral, may be more profi- table to moral purpofes, by fuggeiling ufeiul re- flections, than the mirth at a wedding ; but it is not fo vivid, nor fo fincere. The acclamations of
r5 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
the populace, at an ovation or triumph, at a co- ronation, or inflallation, are from the heart, and their joy is unfeigned. Their grief at a public Execution' is lef's violent at leaft : if their feelinge at fuch fpectacles were very dUtreliing. they would be lefs eaorer to attend them. What is the mo-
O
tive of that ardent curiolity to fee fights and Ihews of exultation — the proceffions of Princes — the oitentation of wealth — the magnificence of equipage, retinue, furniture, buildings, and en- tertainment ? There is no other antwer to be given to thefe queftions, than the gaiety of heart, the joyous feelings of congratulation with fuch appearances of felicity. And for the vindication of the ways of God to man, and the perpetual confolation of the many, who are fpectators, it is certainly true, that their pleafure is always as great, aud commonly much greater, than that of the few who are the actors.
National pafiions and habits are unweildy, un- manageable and formidable things. The num- ber of perfons in any country, who are known even by name or reputation, to a!3 the inhabitants, is, and ever muit be, very fmall. Thofe, whofe characters have attracted the affections, as well as the attention of an whole people, acquire an influence and afceadaiicy that it is difficult to re- fift. In proportion as men rife higher in the world, whether by election, defcent or appoint- ment, and are expofed to the obfervation of greater numbers of people, the effects of their own paffions, and of the affections of others for them become more ferious, interefting and dan- gerous. In elective governments, where firft magiilrates and fenators are at ftated intervals to be chofen, thefe, if there are no parties, become
at
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
sit every frcfli election, more known, confidered and beloved, by the whole nation. But if the nition is divided into t\vo parties, thofe who vote for a man, become the more attached to him for the opposition, that is made by his ene- mies. This national attachment to an elective firft magiftrate, where there is no competition, is very great : but where there is a competition, the pillions of his party, are inflamed by it, into a more ardent enthufiafm. If there are two can- didates, each at the head of a party, the nation becomes divided into two nations, each of which is, in fact, a moral perfon, as much as any com- munity can be fo, and are foon, bitterly enraged, againft each other.
ft has been already faid, that in proportion as men rife higher in the world, and are expofed to the obfervation of greater numbers, the effects of thefe pailions are more ferious and alarming. Im- preflions on the feelings of the individual, arc deeper ; and larger portions of mankind become interefled in them. When you rife to the ftrft ranks, and confider the firft men ; a nobility who are known and refpected at leaft, perhaps habitu- ally efteemed and beloved by a nation ; Princes and Kings, on whom the eyes of ail men are fixed, and whofe every motion is regarded, the confe- quences of wounding their feelings are dreadful, becaufe the feelings of an whole nation, and fomc- times of many nations, are wounded at the fame time. If the fmalleft variation is made in their fituation, relatively to each other ; if one who was inferior is railed to be fuperior, unlefs it be by fixed laws, whofe evident policy andnccefiity may take away difgrace, nothing but war, car- nage and vengeance has ever been the ufual con- H - iucncc
5& DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
fequence of it. In the examples of the houfes? Valols and Bourbon, Guife and Montmorencyt Guife and Bourbon, and Guife and Valois, we have alrea- dy feen very grave effects of thefe feelings, and the hiftory of an hundred years, which followed, is nothing but a detail of other, and more tragi- cal effects of iimilar caufes.
To any one who has never conlidered the force of national attention, confederation, and congratulation^ and the caufes, natural and artificial, by which they have been excited, it will be curious to read, /p/ L in Plato's Alcibiades, the manner in which thefe ' national attachments to their kings, were created by the ancient Perfians. The policy of the mo- dern monarchies of Europe, ieems to be an exact imitation of that of the Perfian Court, as it is ex- plained by the Grecian philofopher. In France, for example, the pregnancy of the Queen is an- nounced with great folemnity to the whole na- tion. Her Majefty is fcarcely afflicted with a pain which is not formally communicated to the pub- lic. To this embryo the minds of the whole na- tion are turned ; and they follow him, day by day, in their thoughts, till he is boru. The whole people have a right to be prefent at his birth ; and as many as the Chamber will hold, crowd in, till the Queen and Prince are almoft fuffocated with the loyal curioiity and affectionate folicitude of their iubjects. In the cradle, the principal per- fonages of the kingdom, as well as all the Ambaf- fadors, are from time to time prefented to the royal irifant. To thoufands who prefs to fee him, he is daily {hewn from the nurfery. Of every ftep in his education ; and or every gradation of his youthful growth, in body and mind, the public is informed in the Gazettes. Not a ilroke
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 5 9
of wit, not a fprightly fally, not a trait of gener- ous affection, can efcape him, but the world is told of it, and very often pretty fictions are con- trived, for the fame purpofe, where the truth \vili not furnifh materials. Thus it becomes the national million, it is the tone of the city and the court, to think and converfe daily about the dau- phin. When he accedes to the throne, the fame attention is continued, till he dies.
In elective governments, fomething very like this, always takes place, towards the firft charac- ter : his perfon, countenance, character and ac- tions, are made the daily contemplation and con- verfation of the whole people. Hence arifes the danger of a divifion of this attention — where there are rivals for the firft place, the national attention and paffions are divided, and thwart each other — the collilion enkindles fires — the con- flicting paffions intereft all ranfcs — they produce ilanders and libels firlt, mobs and feditions next, and civil war, with all her hifTmg fnakes, burn- ing torches, and haggard horrors at laft.
This is the true reafon, why all civilized free nations have found, by experience, the neeeflity of feperating, from the body of the people, and ev- en from the leoiflature, the diftribution of hon-
fj
ors, and confering it on the executive authority of government. When the emulation of all the citizens looks up to one point, like the rays or a circle from all parts of the o'rcumference, meet- ing and uniting in the centre, you may hope for uniformity, confiftency and fubordination : but when they look up to different individuals, or afTemblies, or councils, you may exped all the deformities, eccentricities, and confulion, of the Jjtoleiqick fyftcm.
No;
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. No. i o.
" Wife if a Mini Her, but if a King, •' More wife, more learn'J, mere juft, more every thing.
'
LE is fcarcely any truth more certain, or more evident, than that the nobleife of Europe, are, in general, lefs -happy than the common peo- ple. There is one irrefragable proof of it, which is, that they do not maintain their own popula- tion. Families, like liars, or candles, which you will, are going out continually ; and without frefh recruits from the plebeians, the nobility would in time be extinct. If you make allowances for the ftate, which they are condemned by them- felves, and the world, to fupport, they are poor- er than the poor — deeply in debt — and tributary to ufurious capitalifts, as greedy as the Jews. — - The kings of Europe, in the fight of a philofo- pher, are the greateft flaves on earth, how often ibever we may cal] them defpots, tyrants, and other rude names, in which our pride and vanity takes a wonderful delight : they have the leaft exercife of their inclinations, the leaft perfonal liberty, and the leaft free indulgence of their paf- lions, of any men alive. Yet how rare are the inftances of relignations, and how univerfal is the ambition to be noble, and the wifli to be roy- al.
Experience and philofophy are loft upon man- land. The attention of the world has a charm in it, which few minds can withftand. The peo~ pie coniider the condition of the great in all thofe deluiive colours, in which imagination can paint and gild it, and reafon can make little refiftance, to this impetuous propenfity. To better their
J-.U-
condition
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 6*
condition, to advance their fortunes, without li- mits, is the object of their conftant dcfire, the employment of all their thoughts by day and by night. They feel a peculiar iympathy with that pleaiure, which they prefume thofe enjoy, who are already powerful, celebrated and rich. " We favour (fays a great writer) all their inclinations, and forward all their wim.es. What pity, WTC think, that any thing fliould fpoil and corrupt fo agreeable a fituation : we could even wifh them immortal ; and it feems hard to us, that death fliould at laft put an end to fuch perfect enjoy- ment. It is cruel, we think, in nature, to com- pel them from their exalted ftations, to that hum- ble, but hofpitable home, which Ihe has provided for all her children. Great King, live forever ! is the compliment, which, after the manner of Eaftern adulation, we fliould readily make them, if experience did not teach us its abfurdity. — Every calamity that befalls them, every injury that is done them, excites in the breaft of the fpectator, ten times more companion and refent- ment, than he would have felt, had the fame things happened to other men. It is the misfor- tune of Kings only, which afford the proper fub- jects for tragedy ; they refemble, in this refpect, the misfortune of lovers. Thefe two fituations arc the chief which intereft us on the ftage ; be- caufe, in fpight of all that reafon and experience can tell us to the contrary, the prejudices of the imagination, attach to thefe two ftates. a happi- nefs fuperior to any other. To difturb or put an end to fuch perfect enjoyment, feems to be the moft atrocious of all injuries. The traitor, who confpires againft the life of his monarch, is tho't .. greater monfter, than any other murderer. All
the
<i DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
the innocent blood that was fhed in the civil wars, provoked lefs indignation than the death of Charles Ift. A ftranger to human nature, who faw the indifference of men about the mifery of their inferiors, and the regret and indignation which they feel for the misfortunes and fuffer- ings of thofe above them, would be apt to ima- gine, that pain muft be more agonizing, and the convulsions of death more terrible to perfons of higher rank, than to thofe of meaner ilations.
" Upon this difpofition of mankind, to go a- long with all the paiTions of the rich and pow- erful, is founded the diftinction of ranks, and the order of fociety. Our obfequioufnefs to our fuperiors more frequently arifes from our ad- miration for the advantages of their iltuation, than from any private expectations of benefit from their good. will. Their benefits can extend but to a few j but their fortunes intereft almoft every body. We are eager to aiiift them in corn- pleating a lyftem of happinefs that approaches fo near to perfection ; and we delire to ferve them for their own fake, without any other recom- pence but the vanity or the honor of obliging them. Neither is our deference to their incli- nations founded chiefly, or altogether, upon a regard to the utility offuch fubmiilion, and to the order of fociety, which is beft fupported by it. Even when the order of fociety feems to re- quire that we Ihould oppofe them, we can hard- ly bring ourfelves to do it. That kings are. the lervants of the people, to be obeyed, refilled, de- pofed, or punimed, as the public conveniency may require, is the doctrine of reafon and phi- lofophy ; but it is not the doctrine of nature. Nature would teach us to fubmit to them, for
their
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. €3-
their own fakes, to tremble and bow down be- fore their exalted ftation, to regard their fmile as a reward fufficient to compenfate any fervices, and to dread their difpleafure, though no other evil was to follow from it, as the fevered of all mortifications. To treat them in any refpect as men, to reafon and difpute with them upon or- dinary occafions, requires fuch refolution, that there are few men whofe magnanimity can fup- port them in it, unlefs they are likewife afiifted by familiarity and acquaintance. The ftrongefl motives, the moft furious paffions, fear, hatred and refentmcnt, are fcarce iufficient to balance this natural difpofition to refpecfc them : and their conduct muft either juftly or unjuftly, have excited the higheft degree of all thofe paflions, befoie the bulk of the people can be brought to oppofe them with violence, or to delire to fee them either punifhed or depofed. Even when the people have been brought to this length, they are apt to relent every moment, and eafily re- lapfe into their habitual ftate of deference. They cannot ftand the mortification of their monarch ; compaflion foon takes the place of refentment, they forget all paft provocations, their old prin- ciples of loyalty revive, and they run to re-eftab- lifh the ruined authority of their old matters, with the lame violence with which they had oppofed it. The death of Charles the firft, brought about the reftoration of the royal fam- ily. Companion for James the fecond, when he was feized by the populace, in making his ef- cape on {hip board, had almofl prevented the revolution, and made it go on more heavily than before.
" Do the great fcem infenfible. of the eafy
pr. 5
#4 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
price, as which they may acquire the public ad- miration ; or do they feem to imagine, that td them, as to other men, it muft be the purchafe either of fweat or of blood ? By what import- ant accomplimments is the young nobleman in- ftructed to fupport the dignity of his rank, and to render himfelf worthy of that fuperiority over his fellow citizens, to which the virtue of his anceftors had raifed them ? Is it by know- ledge, by induftry, by patience, by felfdenial, or by virtue of any kind ? As all his words, as all his motions are attended to, he learns an habitual regard to every circumftance of ordinary behav- iour, and ftudies to perform all thofe fmall duties, with the moft exact propriety. As he is confci- ous how much he is obferved, and how much mankind are difpofed to favour ail his inclina- tions, he acts, upon the moft indifferent occafions, with that freedom and elegance, which the tho't of this naturally infpires. His air, his manner, his deportment, all mark that elegant and grace- ful fenfe of his own fuperiority, which thofe who are born to inferior ftations, can hardly expect to arrive at. Thefe are the arts, by which he propofes to make mankind fubmit to his authori- ty, and to govern their inclinations according ta his own pleafure ; and in this he is feldom difap- pointed. Thefe arts, fupported by rank and pre- eminence, are, upon ordinary occafions, fufficient to govern the world.
" But it is not by accomplifliments of this kind, that the man of inferior rank muft hope to diftin- guifli himfelf. Politencfs is fo much the virtue of the great, that it will do little honor to any- body but themfelves. The coxcomb, who imi- tates their manner, and affeds to be eminent by
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 65
the fuperior propriety of his ordinary behaviour, is rewarded with a double mare of contempt for his folly and prcfumption. Whyfhould the man whom nobody thinks it worth while to look at, be very anxious about the manner in which he holds up his head, or difpofes of his arms, while he walks through a room ? He is occupied fure- ly with a very iupertluous attention, and with an attention too that marks a fenfe of his own importance, which no other mortal can go along with. The moft perfect modefty and piairmefs, joined to as much negligence, as is confiftent.with the refpect due to the company, ought to be the chief characteriftics of the behaviour of a private man. If ever he hopes to diftinguiih hirafelf, it muft be by more important virtues : he muft ac- quire dependants, to balance the dependants of the great ; and he has no other fund to pay them from but the labour of his body, and the activity of his mind. He mull cultivate thefe, therefore, he muft acquire fuperior knowledge in his pro- feilion, and fuperior induftry in the exercile of it ; he muft be patient in labour, refolute in dan- ger, and firm in diftrefs. Thefe talents he muft bring into view, by the difficulty, importance, and at the fame time, good judgmeut of his under- takings, and by the fevere and unrelenting ap- plication with which he purfues them. Probity and prudence, generofity and franknefs, muft characterife his behaviour upon all ordinary oc- cafions ; and he muft at the fame time, be .for- ward to engage in all thofe fituations, in which h requires the greateft talents and virtues to aft with propriety; but in which the greateft applaufe is to be acquired by thofe who can acquit tliem- felves with honor. With what impatience docs
66 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
the man of fpirit and ambition, who is depreffed by his fituation, look round for fome great op- portunity to diftinguifti himfelf ? No circumftan- ces, which can afford this, appear to him unde- firable ; he even looks forward with fatisf action to the profpect of foreign war, or civil diffention ; and with fecret tranfport and delight, fees, thro* all the confufion and bloodihed which attend them, the probability of all thofe wiflied-for oc- cafions, prefenting themfelves, in which he may draw upon himfelf the attention and admiration of mankind. The man of rank and diftinction, on the contrary, whofe whole glory confifts in the propriety of his ordinary behaviour ; who is contented with the humble renown which this can afford him, and has no talents to acquire any other ; is unwilling to embarrafs himfelf with what can be attended either with difficulty or diftrefs : To figure at a ball is his great triumph — he has an averlion to a]l public confuiions, not from want of courage, for in that he is feldom defective, but from a confcioufnefs that he pof- feffes none of the virtues which are required in fuch fkuations, and that the public attention \\ ill certainly be drawn away from him by oth- ers : he may be willing to expofe himfelf to fome little danger, and to make a campaign, when it happens to be the fafhion ; but he fliudders with horror at the thought of any fituation which de- mands the continual and long exertion of pati- ence, induftry, fortitude, and long application of thought. Thefe virtues are hardly ever to be met with in men who are born to thofe high fta- tions. In all governments, accordingly, even in monarchies, the higheft offices are generally pof- feffed, and the whole detail of the adminiftration
conducted
DISCOURSES ON DA VILA. 67
conducted by men, who were educated in the middle and inferior ranks of life, who have been carried forward by their own induftry and abili- ties, though loaded with the jealoufy, and oppo- led by the refentment of all thofe who were born their fuperiors, and to whom the great, after hav- ing regarded them, lirft with contempt, and af- terwards with envy, are at laft contented to truckle with the fame abject rneannefs, with which they defire that the reft of mankind fhould behave to themfelves.
" It is the lofs of this eafy empire over the af- fections of mankind, which renders the fall from greatnefs fo infuppor table. When the family of the King of Macedon was led in triumph by Pau- lus .ZEmilius, their misfortunes, made them di- vide with their conqueror, the attention of the Roman people. The fight of the royal children, whofe tender age rendered them infenfible of their lituation, flruck the fpectators, amidft the public rejoicings and profperity, with the ten- dereft forrow and compailion. The King ap- peared next in the proceffion — and feemed like one confounded and aftoniilied, and bereft of all fentimeHt, by the greatnefs of his calamities. His friends and minifters followed after him. As they moved along, they often caft their eyes up- on their fallen fovereign, and always burfl into tears at the fight — their whole behaviour demon- ftrating that they thought not of their own mis- fortunes, but were occupied intirely by the fupe- rior greatnefs of his. The generous Romans, on the contrary, beheld him with difdain and in- dignation, and regarded as unworthy of all com- pailion the man who could be fo mean fpirited as to bear to live under fuch calamities. Yet
what
ft DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
what did thofe calamities, amount to ? He waste fpcnd the remainder of his days, in aftate, which of itfelf fhould feem worthy of envy ; a ftate of plenty, eafe, leifure and fecurity, from which it was impoffible for him, even by his own folly, to fall. But he was no longer to be furrounded by that admiring mob of fools, flatterers, and de- pendants, who had formerly been accuftomed to attend all his motions ; he was no longer to be gazed upon by multitudes, nor to have it in his power to render himfelf the object of their re- ipecT:, their gratitude, their love, and their admi- ration. The paffions of nature were no longer to mould themfelves upon his inclinations. This was that infupportable calamity, which bereaved the king of all fentiment ; which made his friends forget their own misfortunes, and which the Ro- man magnanimity could fcarce conceive how a- ny man could be fo mean fpiritcd as to bear to furvive.
" To thofe who have been accuftomed to the poiieffion, or even to the hope of public admira- tion, all other pleafures ficken and decay.
" Of fuch mighty importance does it appear to be, in the imaginations of men, to Hand in that iituation which fets them mofl in the view of general fympathy, and attention ; and thus place that great objecl: which divides the wives of aldermen, is the end of half the labours of human life ; and is the caufe of all the tumult and buftle, all the rapine and injuftice, which a- varice and ambition have introduced into this world. People of fenfe, it is faid indeed, defpife place ; that is to fay they defpife fetting at the head of the table, and are indifferent who it is that is pointed out to the company by that fri- volous
DISCOURSES ON DA VILA. 6$
volous circumftance which the fmalleft advantage
O
is capable of overbalancing. But rank, diflinc- tion, pre-eminence, no man defpifes." Jiam J
-
^ '<•>. tl >-vi *• -« « J.
No. ii.
Heroes proceed ! What bounds your pride fnall hold? What check reftrain your thirft of power and gold ?
THE anfwer to the queftion, in the motto, can be none other than this, that as nature has eftablHhed in the hofoms of heroes no limits to thofe pafiions ; and as the world, inftead of re- ftraining encourages them, the check mud be, in the form of government.
The world encourages ambition and avarice, by taking the moft decided part in their favor. The Roman world approved of the ambition of Csefar ; and, notwithftanding all the pains that CtfJ ar have been taken with fo much reafon, by moral and political writers to difgrace it, the world has approved it thefe feventeen hundred years; andftill efteems his name an honor to the firft empire in Europe. Confider the ftory of the ambition and the fall of Cardinal Wolfey, and Archbilhop Laud ; the indignation of the world againft their tyran- ny has been very faint ; the fympathy with their fall has been very ftrong. Confider all the ex- amples in hiflory of fuccefsful ambition, you will find none generally condemned by mankind ; on the other hand, think of the inftances of ambi- tion, unfuccefsful and difappointed j or of falls
from
7o DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
from great heights, you find the fympathy of the world univerfally affected. Cruelty and tyranny of the blacked kind muft accompany the ftory, to deftroy or fenfibly diminim. this pity. That world, for the regulations of whofe prejudices, pallions, imaginations and interefts, governments arc inftituted, is fo unjuil, that neither religion, natural nor revealed, nor any thing, but a well ordered and well balanced government has ever been able to correct it, and that but imperfectly. It is as true in modern London, as it was in an- cient Rome, that the fympathy of the world is lefs excited by the deftruction of the houfe of a man of merit, in obfcurity, or even in middle life, though it be by the unjuft violence of men, than by the fame calamity befalling a rich man, by the righteous indignation of heaven.
Nil habuit Codrus : quis enirh negat ? et tamen illud
Perdidit infelix totum nil : ultimus autem
^Eiunanae cumulus, quod nudum et frufta rogantem
Nemo cibo, nemo hofpitio teftoque juvabit.
Si magna Arturi cecidit domus, horrida mater,
Pullati proceres, difFert vadimonia Prsetor :
Tune gemimus cafus urbis, tune odimus ignem.
Ardet adhuc, et jam, accurrit qui marmora donet,
Conferat impenfas. Kic nuda et Candida figna ;
Hie aliquid prceclarum Euphranoris et Polycleti,
Hie phsecafiancrum vetera ornamenta Deorum.
Hie libros dabit et forulos, mediamque Minervnm j
Hie modium argenti : meliora et plura reponit
PeiTicus orborum lautiffimus, ut merito jam
Sufpe&us, tanquam ipfe fuas incenderit sdes. ,'itum*4.-
But hark ! th' affrighted crowd's tumultuous cries Roll through the ftreets, and thunder to the fkies : Rais'd from fome pleafing dream of v/ealth and power. Some pompous palace, or fome blifsful bower, Aghaft you ftart, and fcarce with aching fight, Knftain the approaching fire's tremendous light j Swift from purfuing horrors take your way, And leave your little all to flames a prey ;
Then
DISCOURSES ON DAVlLA.
Then thro' the world a. wretched vagrant roam,
For where can ftarving merit find a home?
In vain your mournful narrative difclofe,
While all neglect, and moll iniult your woes.
---- But
Should heavn's juft bolts Orgilio's wealth confound
And fpread his flaming palace on the ground,
Swift o'er the kind the difmal rumour flies,
And public mournings pacify the Ikies ;
The Laureat tribe in venal verfe relate,
How virtue wars with persecuting fate ;
With well-feign'd gratitude the penuon'd band
Refund the plunder of the be^gar'd land.
See ! while he builds, the gaudy vailals come,
And crowd with fuddcn wealth the rifing dome?
The price of boroughs and of fouls re (lore ;
And raife his treafures higher than before :
Now blefs'd with all the baubles of the great,
The polilh'd marble and the fiiining plate,
Orgilio fees'the golden pile afpire,
And hopes from angry heav'n another fire.
Although the verfe, both of the Roman and the Briton, is fatire, its keenefl feverity confiib in its truth.
No. 12.
Order is Helen's firjl !a-iu — and this confefs'd* Some are, and mujl bs, greater than the reft : JMire rich, more luife — But iw/;o infers frcm ben*et That fuch are bappier,Jhocks all common ftnfe.
THE world is fenfible of the ncccflity of fup- porting their favourites under the firit onfets of misfortune — left the fall fhould be dreadful and irrecoverable — for according to the great Matter of Nature, 'TU
?* DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
'Tis certain, greatnefs, once fallen out with fortune? Mull fall out with men too : What the declin'd is He fhall as foon read in the eyes of others, As feel in his own fall : for men, like butterflies, Shew not their mealy wings but to the fummer ; And not a man for being fmgly man, Hath any honor ; but's honor'd for thofe honors That are without him, as place, riches, favor, Prizes of accident as oft as merit.
Mankind are fo fenfible of thefe things, that by a kind of inftincl or intuition, they generally follow the advice of the fame author.
Take the inftant way, For honor travels in a ftraight fo narrow Where one but goes abreaft : Keep then the path; For emulation hath a thoufand fons, That one by one purfue ; if you give way, Or hedge a!ide from the direct forth-right, Like to an enter'd tide, they all rufh by, And leave you hindmoft ; Or like a gallant horfe, falPn in firfl. rank, Lie there for pavement to the abject rear, O'errun and trampled on.
The inference from all the contemplations and experiments which have been made, by ail na- tions, upon thefe difpofitions to imitation, emu- lation, and rivalry, is expreffed by the fame great teacher of morality and politics.
Degree being vizarded, CXJVce. Th' unworihieft ftiews as fairly in the maflc.
The Heaven's themfelves, the Planets and this centre, andtUon Obfervc degree, priority and place,
Infiilure, courfe, proportion, feafon, form, Office and cuftom, in all line of order : ">* And therefore is the glorious planet Sol,
In noble eminence, enthron'd and fpher'd it a iit<n Amidft the others ; whofe med'cinable eye
Corrects the ill afpecls of planets evil, \'i '« it. !< en And potts like the commandment of a King,
Sans
A
B1SCOURSES ON DAVII.A.
Sans check, to good and bad ; but when the planets
In evil mixture, to, dilorder wander,
\Vhat plagues and what portents ! what mutiny !
What raging of the lea ! Shaking of earth !
Commotion in the winds ! Frights, changes, horrors^
Divert and crack, rend and deracinate,
The unity and married calrri Of States,
Quite from their fixure ? O, when Degree is fhak'cJ,
Which is the ladder to all high defigns,
The enterprize is fick ! How could communities^ ,
Degrees in fchools, and brotherhoods in cities^ '-Xfcy
The primogenitive and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, fceptres, laurels,
But by Degree ftand in authentic place ? 3" f4
Take but Degree away ; untune that firing C$ e<j
And hark ! what difcord follows ! each thing meel^
In meer oppugnaney : the bounded waters
Should lift their bofoms, higher than the fhores,
And make a fop, of all this folid globe :
Strength fhould be lord of imbecility,
And the rude fen ihould ftrike his father dead :
Force ftould be right ; or rather right and wrong ,
Should lofe their names, and fo fliould juftice too>
Then every thing includes itfelf in power,
Power into will, will into appetite ;
And appetite an univerfal wolf,
Mud make perforce an univeifal prey,
And laft eat up himfelf.
This chaos, when Degree is fuffocate
Follows the choaking.
The General's difdalnM,
By him one ftep below : he by the next t,
That next by him beneath : fo every ftep
Exampled by die firft pace, that is fick
Of his fuperior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and bloodlefs emulation.
Troy in our weaknefs ftands, not in her
Moft wifely hath UlyfTes here difcovered
The Fncr, wbtreof all ffur fowcr is fick,
./He i (,„ k - /-***+ o.jJ>>icir as
,
«f>/*t*.ir in. hi<> WiYtn/ (rut fkt <Jc>nf<; ^ ' a*
74 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA*
No.
Think We, like frire weak Prince; th' eternal caufs Prone, for his fav'rites, to revarfe his laws ? J^c?/>c
f , ,. EMULATION, which is imitation and fome- ^** thing more — a defire not only to equal or re- ferable, but to excel, is fo natural a movement of the human heart, that, wherever men are to be found, and in whatever manner affociated or connecled, we fee its effects. They are not more affected by it, as individuals, than they are in communities. There are rivalries between every little fociety in the fame city — between families and all the connections by confanguinity andaffini- • ty — between trades, faculties, and pr of enrons- be- tween congregations, parifhes and churches — be- tween fchools, colleges, and univeriities — be- tween diftricts, villages, cities, provinces and na- tions. A° //, > i National rivalries are more frequently the caufe
11 0.UO**'**-*' ,. , ... c • -n ^i
of wars than the ambition or rnimlters, or the ir* pride of kings. — As long as there is patriotifm, there willbe national emulation, vanity and pride. It is national pride which commonly ftimulates kings and minifters. — National fear, apprehen- iion of danger, and the neceility of felf-clefence, is added to fuch rivalries for wealth, confidera- tion and power. The fafety, independence, and exiftence of a nation, depends upon keeping up an high fenfe of its own honor, dignity and pow- er in the hearts of its individuals, and a lively jealoufy of the growing power and afpiring am- bition
DISCOURSES ON DALVIA. 75
bition of a neighbouring State — This is well il- luftrated in the Political Geography, publiihed in our newfpapers from London, within a iew weeks. "The jealoui;cs and enmities, the alli- ances and friendihips, or rather the combinations of different States and Princes, might almoft be learned from a map, without attention to what has paffed, or is now palling in the world. Next neighbours are political enemies.: States be- tween which a common neighbor, and therefore a common enemy intervenes, are good, friends. In this refpect Europe may be compared to a chefs board, marked with the black, and with the white ipots of political diicord and concord. — Before the union between England and Scotland, a friendihip and alliance fubiifted for centuries, between the latter of thefe kingdoms and France, i"*.'v becaufe they were both inimical to England. For^* ^> "vt a like reaibn, before a Prince of Bourbon, in the beginning of the prefent century, was raifed to the Spamfli throne, a good underftanding fubfift- ed for the moft part, between England and Spain, and before the late alliance, there was peace and kindnefs, with little interruption, for the fpace of centuries, between England and the Emperor. An alliance has long iul- lilted between the French and the Turks, on account of the intervening do- minion of the Auftrians. , The Swedes were long the friends of France, on account of the inter- vention of Holland and Denmark — and becaufe Sweden, the friend of France, was fituated in the neighborhood of the Ruffian territories, a friend- ihip and commercial intercourie was efiablimed, from the very firft time that Mufcovy appears on the political theatre of Europe, between England and Ruilia. It is fuperfluous to multiply inftan-
cei
96 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
ces of this kind. All paft hiftory and prefent ob- fervation will confirm the truth of our pofition — which, though very fimple, is like all other fimple truths, of very great importance — for, however the accidental caprices and paflions of individual Princes, or their minifters, may alter the relative difpofltions and interefts of nations for a time, there is a natural tendency to revert to the alteration already defcribed. We hive been led into thefe reflections by the treaty of- feniive and defenfive, that has been formed be- tween Sweden, Prufiia. and the Sublime Porte — between Pruflia and Holland — and the report which is very probable, that a treaty offenfi ve and defenfive is on the point of being concluded be- tween Turkey and Poland. In this chain of al- liances we find the order of the chefsboard ad- hered to, in feme inftances, but pafled over in others. It is obferved there fhould be an alli- ance between Ruflia and Sweden — and alfo that there mould be an alliance between Poland and Turkey, becaufe Ruflia intervenes between Tur- key and Sweden, and Hungary between Turkey and Poland-^but that there fliould be an alliance between Poland and Pruflia is owing to particu- lar and accidental circumilances. The two for- mer alliances may therefore be expected to be Jafting-rr-the latter to be only temporary and pre- carious. In general the chain of alliance, that is formed or forming, among the Swedes, Pruf- lians, Poles, Dutch, Turks, and we may fay the Englifh, is a moft ftriking proof, of the real or fuppofed ftrength and influence of the two impe- rial courts of Ruflia and Germany."
The writer of this paragraph might have added the alliance between England and Portugal, and
that
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. »:
between the United States of America and France. The principle of all thefc examples is as natural as emulation, >and as infallible as the iincerity of intereft. On it, turns the whole fyf- tem of human The Congrcfs of 1 776 were
fully aware of it. With .,o fmall degree of vc- hemence, was it urged, as an argument for the declaration of Independence : with confidence ~nd firmncfo \vasir. foretold, that France could not avoid accepting the proportions that mould bc<J,ra>tc /i#* made to her : that the Court of Verfailles could /%.vo*/>» rt-*> <*»* not anfwer it, to her own fubjects, and that all^ adu&^l*?* Europe would pronounce her blind, loft and un- ,
J 'CO. • o. ' r c • • r ^•r 6v &** " ^* &
done9ir ihe rejected fo fair an opportunity of dif- . „
embarrafllng herfeif, from the danger of fo pow- 'rf^J*~ • ' erful and hoftile a rival^ whofe naval fuperiority lield all her foreign dominions, her maritime power and commercial intereft, at mercy.
But why ail this of Emulation and Rivalry ? — Becaufe, as the whole hiftory of the civil wars of France, given us by Davila, is no more than a relation of rivalries, fucceeding each other in a rapid feries, the reflections we have made will ailift us, botli to underfland that noble hiftorian, and to form a right judgment of the ftate of af- fairs in France at the prefent moment. They will fuggeft alfo to Americans^ efpecially to thole who have been unfriendly, and may be now luke- warm to their national Conftitution, fomeufeful enquiries, fuch as thofe for examples : Whether ttere are not emulations, of a fenous complex- ion among ourfelves ? between cities and univer- iities ? between North and South ? The Middle and the North ? The Middle and the South ? between one ftate and another ? between the go- vernments of States and the National Govern- ment ?
>* DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA.
ment ? and between individual patriots and he-* roes in all thefe ? What is the natural remedy againft the inconveniences and dangers of thefe rivalries ? Whether a well-balanced Conftitu- tion— fuch as that of our Union purports to be, ought not to be cordially fupported, till its de- fects, if it has any, can be corrected, by every good citizen, as our only hope of peace, and our ark of iafety ? — But it muft be left to the con- templations of our State Phyficians to difcover the caufes and the remedy of that " fever, whereof cur power is Jkk" One quefticn only ihall be refpectfully iniinuated ; Whether equal laws, the refult only of a balanced government, can e- ver be obtained and p refer ved without fome iigns or other of diflinciion and degree ?
We are told that our friends, the National Af- fembly of France, have abolifhed all diftinctions, But be not deceived, my dear countrymen. Im- poffibilities cannot be performed. Have they le- ktJ. veiled all fortunes, and equally divided all pro- *•»» Perty -? Have they made all men and women e- IV 11^ Dually \vife, elegant, and beautiful? Have they ' - •" annihilated the names of Bourbon and Montmo- rency, Rochefoucalt and Noailles, La Fayette and La Moignon, Neckar and de la Calonne, N'drabeau and Bailey ? Have they committed to the flames all the records, annals andhiflories of the nation ? All the copies of Mezerai, Daniel, de Thou, Veilly, and a thoufand others ? Have they burned all their pictures, and broken all their flatues ? Have they blotted out of all memories, the names, places of abode, and illuftrious actions of all their anceftors ? Have thev not ftill Princes of the firft
<* .
and fecond order. Nobles and Knights ? Have they no record nor memory who are the men,
who
DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA. -7?
Wno compofc the prefcnt National Affembly ? — Do they wifli to have that dfftincticn forgotten ? Have the French officers who ferved in America melted their Eagles, and torn their ribbons ?
No. 14*
*77j- with our judgments as our
Co j:ij} sitk?,y£i each believes bis own.
ALL the miracles enumerated in our laft num- ber, mud be performed in France, before all dif- tinftions can be annihilated, and diftincHons \\\ abundance would be found, after all, for French gentlemen, in the hiftory of England, Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy, America, and all other countries on the globe.
The wifdom of nations has remarked the uni- Verfal confederation paid to wealth ; and that the paflion of avarice, excited by it, produced trea- chery, cowardice, and a felfifh unfocial meannefs, but had no tendency to produce thofe virtues of patience, courage,fortitude, honor, or patriotifm, which the fervice of the public required in their citizens, in peace and war.
The wifdom of nations has obferved, that ths general attention paid to birth, produced a diffe- rent kind of fentiments ; thofe of pride in the maxims and principles in religion, morals and go- vernment, as well as in the talents and virtues which firil produced illuftr^tion to anceftors.
A*
a*
to DISCOURSES ON DA VILA,
As the pride of wealth produced nothing but meannefs of fentiment, and a fordid fcramble for money ; and the pride of birth produced forric degree of emulation in knowledge and virtue ; the wifdom of nations has endeavoured to employ one prejudice to counteract another j the preju- dice in favor of birth, to moderate, correct, and reflrain the prejudice in favor of wealth.
The National AfTembly of France is too enlight- ened a body to overlook. the enquiry. What ef- fect on the moral character of the nation would be produced, by deftroying, if that were pofllble, all attention to families, and fetting all the paf- fions on the purfuit of gam. Whether univer- fal venality, and an incorrigible corruption in e- lections would not be the neceffary confequence. It may be relied on, however, that the intentions of that auguft and magnanimous affembly, are mifunderftood and liiifreprefented. Time will develope their deiigns, will {hew them to be more judicious than to attempt imp'oflibilities fo obvi- ous, as that of the abolition of all diftinctions.
ALPHONSUS the tenth, the aftronomical king of Caftile, has been accufed of impiety, for faying that " if, at the time of the creation, he had been called to the councils of the divinity, he could have given fome tifeful advice, concerning the motions of the liars/' It is not probable, that a- ny thing was intended by him, more than an hu- morous farcafm, or a fneer of contempt, at the Ptolemaic fyftem, a projection of which he had before him. But if the National Affembly mould have ferioufly in contemplation, and mould re- folve in earned the total abolition of all diftinc- tions and orders, it would be much more difii- eultto vindicate them from an accufation of im- piety.
.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 81
piety. God, in the conftitution of nature, has ordained that every man mall have a difpolition to emulation, as well as imitation, and confe- quently a pillion for diftinction, and that all men {hall not have equal means and opportuni- ties of gratifying it. Shall we believe the Na- tional Atlembly capable of refolving that no man {hall have any deiire of diftinction ; or that all men {hall have equal means of gratifying it ? — - Or that no man mall have any means of gratify- ing it ? What would this be better than faying, *' if we had been called to the councils of the ce- leftials, we could have given better advice in the conftitution of human nature ?" If nature and that allembly, could be thus at variance, which however is not credible, the world would foon fee, which is the moft powerful. . ^
That there is already a fciffion, in the National JljrtitA ** . Aflembly, like all others, paft, prefent, and to come, is moft certain. There is an ariftocratical party, a democratical party, an armed neutrality, and moft probably a monarchial party : befides another divifion, who muft finally prevail, or li- berty will be loft : I mean a fet of members, who are equal friends to monarchy, ariftrocracy, and democracy, and wifti for an equal independent mixture of all three in their conftitution. Each of thefe parties has its chief, and thefe chiefs are or will be rivals. Religion will be both the ob- ject and the pretext of fome : liberty, of others : fubmiflion and obedience of others : and level- ing, downright levelling, of not a few. But the attention, conlideration and congratulations of the public, will be the object of all. Situation and oflice will be aimed at by fome of all parties. Contclts and diflentions will arife between thefe runners in the lame race. rlhe natural and ufuaL j, progrefs,
8a "DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
progrefs, is, from debate in- the affembly to dif- cuflions in print ; from the fearch of truth and public utility in both, to fophiftry and the fpirit of party : Evils fo greatly dreaded by the ingenu- ous " Citizen of New-Heaven/' to whom we , v ,, have now the honor of paying our firft refpects, ;T w<U '«fK hoping that hereafter we may find an opportu- rr»v J»»^A'»n nity to make him our more particular compli- *.«.«,. ments.* From fophiftry and party fpirit, the
tranfition is quick and eafy to falfhood, impof- fh^jeWcHciv ture, and every fpecies of artificial evolution and a,t Lara,' /t,/- criminal intrigue. As unbalanced parties of every defcription, can never tolerate a free en- in* Aaqt &nt( quiry of any kind, when employed againft them- /uru tt tk< felves, the licence, and even the moft temperate ; t freedom of the prefs, foon excites refentment and
^'UCQvinixctJ revenge. A writer, -unpopular with an oppofite n ton m A/> v? Party? becaufe he is too formidable in wit or argu- h t- inent, may firft be burnt in effigy: or a printer
. J<* may have his office affaulted : cuffs and kicks,
boxes and cudgels, are heard of, among plebeian ftatefmen ; challenges and fingle combats among '7the ariftocratic legrflators — Riots and feditions at length break men's bones, or flea off their Ikins.
CT J (' f t
\ K. JYmic.s Lives are loft: and when blood is once drawn, J L *h men, like other animals, become outrageous : If
71 dt one party has not a fuperiority over the other, clear enough to decide every thing at its pleafure, a civil war enfues. When the nation arrives at this period of the progrefiion, every leader, at the head of his votaries, even if you admit him Vv» »r< ,iuv/ to have the beft intentions in the world, will find 9 t o £l him]ktf compelled to form them into fome milita- • ry arrangement, both for offence and defence ; to
i, build
* Alluding to four Letters pubiiflied about that time, by Condorcet , who called himfelf a Citizen of New Heaven, in which he recommended a Government iu a Single Atrsmbly, which was accordingly adopted, aud ruined France.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 83
build caftles and fortify eminences, like the feudal
/
Barons. For ariftocratical rivalries and demo- cratical rivalries too, when unbalanced againft each other, by fome third mediating power, natu-. rally and unfailingly produce a feudal fyftem. — • If this fhould be the courie in France, the poor, deluded, and devoted partizans would foon be fond enoucrh of decorating their leaders, with
O O '
the old titles of dukes, marquiffes and counts, or
doing any thing elfe, to increafe the power of J(( fob jo
their commander over themfelves, to unite their {^ i Qf,
wills and forces for their own fafety and defence,*"
or to give him weight with their enemies. *
The men of letters in France, are wifely re- v ' ^ '~ forming one feudal fyftem; but may they not & unwifely, lay the foundation of another ? A le- giflature in one affembly, can have no other ter- mination than in civil diflention, feudal anarchy, or Umple monarchy. The beft apology which can be made for their frefh attempt of a fove- reignty in one affembly, an idea at leaft as ancient » in France as Stephen BoetiitSj is, that it is only in- tended to be momentary. If a fenate had been propofed, it muft have been formed, moft proba- bly of Princes of the blood, Cardinals, Arch- bimops, Dukes and Marquiffes, and all thefe to- gether would have obftrucled the progrefs of the reformation in religion and government, and procured an abortion, to the regeneration of France. Pennfylvania eftablimed her iingle af- fembly in 1776, upon the fame principle. An apprehenfion that the Proprietary and Quaker interefts would prevail, to the election of charac- ters difaffected to the American caufe, finally pre- ponderated againft two legiflative councils. Penn- lylvania, and Georgia, who followed her example, have found by experience, the neceffity of a
change
* This has all been accompUflied ia the new E:npcror Napoleon. 1804.
to ex<^~ V»^/>
84 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
change : and France, by the fame infallible prog- refs of reafoning, will difcover the fame necefllty : Happy indeed, if the experiment mall not coft t ! <*TL i ^er more dear. That the fubject is conlidered in this light, by the beft friends of liberty in Europe, appears by the words of Dr. Price, lately published in this paper. — " Had not the arifto- jr ,. ^a J^-^cratical and clerical orders," fays that fage and ,. amiable writer, " have been obliged to throw ,themfelves into one chamber with the commons, no reformation could have taken place, and the e<. "regeneration of the kingdom would have been -. . ,,/2 ^ impoflible. And in future legiflatures, were thefe two orders to make diftinct and independent f ftates, all that has been done would probably be . foon undone. Hereafter, perhaps, when the new constitution, as now formed, has acquired ftrength ' by time, the National AiTembly may find it prac- ticable as well as expedient, to cftablim by means of a third Eftate, fuch a check, as now takes place in the American government, and is indifpenlible in the Britifh government."*
No. 15.
Firft follow nature, and your judgment frame By her juft ftandard, which is Rill the fame.
THE world grows more enlightened : Know- ledge is more equally diffuled : News-papers, Magazines, and circulating libraries, have made mankind wifer : Titles and diftinclions, ranks
and
* It is to he lamented that the Do&or had not lived to l8°^s to fee the errors imo which his hoodleuthufiafm beiraytd him,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 8 f
and orders, parade and ceremony, are all going J{tad lh> "l out of faihion. This is roundly and frequently ;fin sift* 1-t aflcrted in the ftreets, and fometimes on theatres of higher mnk. Some truth there is in it : and if/ the opportunity were temperately improved, to / V(2 <*** 6°" the reformation of abufes, the rectification of er- rors, and the difllpation of pernicious prejudices, a great advantage it might be. But, on the o- ther hand, falfe inferences may be drawn from it, which may make mankind wim for the age of Dragons, Giants and Fairies. If all decorum, difcipline and fubordination are to be cleftroyed, and univerfal pyrrhonifm, anarchy, and iniecuri- ty of property are to be introduced, nations will foon wifli their books in ames, feck for uarknefs ./) CLpottpH and ignorance, fuperftition and fanaticifm, as /> ^ bleflings, and follow the ftandard of the firft mad , xn defpot, who, with the enthufiafm of another Mahomet, will endeavour to obtain them.
Are riches, honors, and beauty going out of famion? Is not the rage for them, on the contra- ry, increafed falter than improvement, in know- ledge ? As long as cither of thefe are in vogue, , . will there not be emulations and rivalries ? l)oes_y£/£r?c£ ' n not the incrcafe of knowledge in any man, \n-qu±*h ci -n creafe his emulation ; and the difFufiou of know- •" '.'»»-*, ledge among men, multiply rivalries ? Has the progrefs of fcience, arts and letters, yet difcover- ed that there are no paflions in human nature ? No ambition, avarice or a defire of fame ? Are thefe paflions cooled, diminilhed or extinguiflied ? Is the rage for admiration lefs ardent in men or women ? Have thefe propenfities lefs a tendency to divifions, controverfies, feditions, mutinies, and civil wars, than formerly ? On the contrary, the more knowledge is diflufed, the more the paflions are extended, andth? more furious they
grow ?
S& DISCOURSES ON DAVILA,
grow ? Had Cicero lefs vanity, or Casfar lefs am- bition, for their vaft erudition r Had the King of Pruilia lefs of one, than the other ? There is no connection in the mind between fcience and paflion, by which the former can extinguifh or dkninifli the latter : it on the contrary fometimes increafes them, by giving them exercife. Were the paffions of the Romans lefs vivid, in the age ©f Pompey, than, in the time of Mummius ? Are thole of the Britons, more moderate at this hour than in the reigns of the Tudors ? Are the pafiions €>f Monks, the weaker for all their learning ? Are not jealoufy, envy, hatred, malice and revenge, as well as emulation and ambition, as rancorous in the cells of Carmelites, as in the courts of Princes ? Go to the Royal Society of London ; is there lefs emulation for the chair of Sir Ifaac Newton, than there was, and commonly will be for all elective prefidencies ? Is there lefs animo- fity and rancour, arifing from mutual emulations in that region of fcience, than there is among the moft ignorant of mankind ? Go to Paris : Low do you find the men of letters ? united, friendly, harmonious, meek, humble, modeft, charitable ? prompt to mutual forbearance ? un- afTuming ? ready to acknowledge fuperior merit ? zealous to encourage the firft fymptoms of genius ? Afk Voltaire and Rofieau, Marmontel and De Mably.*
The increafe and diilemination of knowledge, inftead of rendering unnecefParv, the checks of
o « *
emulation and the balances of rivalry, in the or- ders of fociety and conftitution of government, augment the necefiity of both. It becomes the
more
* The envy, jtaloufv, rivalries, faflions, cabals, intrigues and arrmnfu ties, arnoi«2 :he men of letters in Paris, were as violent at lenfl as they were at Court, aud as furious, tim' not fo bloody as they were among the people and their povernrncn:, uciJtr any form of their variable ccailitu- eons t'rom 178610 1804.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. J?7
fnore indifpenfable, that every man fhouldknow his place and be made to keep it. Bad men in- creafe in knowledge as faft as good men, and fcience, arts, tafte, fenfe and letters, are employed for the purpofes of injuftice and tyranny, as well as thole of law and liberty ; for corruption as well as for virtue.
FRENCHMEN ! Aft and think like yourfelves ! confcfling human nature, be magnanimous and wife. Acknowledging and boalting yourfelves to be men. avow the feelings of men. The feclation of being exempted from paffions, is in-^ -4// human. The grave pretention to fuch fingulari-//^ /y;^ ty is folemn hypocrify. Both are unworthy of s
your frank and generous natures. Confider that government is intended to fct bounds to paffions which nature has not limited : and to aflift reafon, confcience, juflice and truth in con- trouling interefts, which, without it, would be as uniuft as uncontroulable.
J A
AMERICANS! rejoice, that from experience,^ +*<*< t a m ; you have learned wifdom : and inftead of whim- fical and fantaftical projects, you have adopted ay-</ promifing effay, towards a well ordered govera-^ .lld }ta#A ment. Inftead of following any foreign exam*( pie, to return to the kgijlation of confufion, ton-, fj^ ' %„ , template the means of reftoring decency, honeily \ ^ -ltt and order in fociety, by preiervinsf, and com- -
• • 'C i • n i ii i c i rr 'ft l<»ir
pleating, ir any thing mould be round necerbry to compleat, the balance of your government,^ • In a well balanced government, reafon, con-7"* ^ icience, truth and virtue mud be refpected by ali '^ parties, and exerted for the public good. Adveit^^^ A» ^ to the principles on which you commenced that.. ! ^^4 -/, glorious felf defence, which, if you behave with &od jr&nt iteadinefs and coniiilency, mav ultimately loofeti '
-.11- c 11 i • j •« i i 'n»3'L
the chains or all mankind. It vou will take the
' ,, " " '
. A fit v i v* *ti tr* * a-yi i • if-'fi rtfi
tit*'. <Aa\r/ru* f ~j*v» '
' >»
S8 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
trouble tu read over the memorable proceedings uf tne town of Bofton, on the 28th day of Octo- .. ^ bcr 1772, when the Committee of Correfpon-
^ dcncc of twenty one perfons, was appointed to
Itate the rights of the Colonifts as men, as chrift* fair //wW*-115 and as Objects, and to publifh them to the ,-p world, with the infringements and violations of
1,1. ^cr^rt^them, you will find the great principles of civil and religious liberty, for which you have con- •d/- ^> wl tended ^° fuccefsfully, and which the world is •it contending for after your example. I could
tranfcribe with pleafure, the whole of this im- mortal pamphlet, which is a real picture of the m f«n of liberty, rifing on the human race : but fhall felecb only a few words, more directly to the prefcnt purpofe. " The firft fundamental politive law of all commonwealths or ftates, is the eftab- lifliment of the legiflative power." Page 9. t " It is abfolutely neceflary, in a mixed govern-
ment, like that of this Province, that a due pro- portion, or balance of power fhould be eftablifhed among the feveral branches of the legiflative. Our anceftors received from King William and Queen Mary, a charter, by which it was under- flood by both parties in the contract, that fuch a proportion or balance was fixed ; and therefore every thing which renders any one branch of the legiflative more independent of the other two, than it was originally defigned, is an alteration .of the Conftitution."
J AMERICANS i In your Congrefs at Philadelphia, on Friday, the i4th day ef October, 1774, you laid down the fundamental principles, for which you were about to contend, and from which it is to be hoped you will never depart. For afiert-
inof and vindicating vour rights and liberties, you
o.o j i j
declared,
' <£ 7 ;
^
DISCOURSES ON DA VILA. '.
declared, "That by the immutable law*.(f>f^V
ture, the principles of the Englifh Conftitution,£,m *}
and your fcveral charters or compacts, you were>i/ui yrafn/n b
entitled to life, liberty and property : that youf * » n .11 ,11 • i T-L •' AKc u
anceitors were entitled to all the rights, liberties .
and immunities of free and natural born fubjects-"'
in England : that you, their defcendants, were
entitled to the exercife and enjoyment of allfuch ^ ^
of them as your local and other circumftances,' stf * *T'
Enabled you to exercife and enjoy. That $&$".#**''
foundation of Englifh liberty, and of all free^, >«.A ;'n<>. c<w--
governments, is, a right in the people, to partici-
pate in their legiflative council. That you were
entitled to the common law of England, and
more efpecially to the great and ineftimableu
privilege of being tried by your peers of the vici-
nage, according to the courfe of that law. That
it is indifpcnfdbly neceffary to good government ^ and
rendered effentialby the Englijh Conftitution, thai the
conftituent branches of the legijlature^ be independent f
of each other." Thefe, among others, you theii "
claimed, demanded and infifted on, as your in-
dubitable rights and liberties. Thefe are the
O
principles, on which you firft united and affocia- ted, and if you fteadily and conlillently maintain them, they will not only fecure freedom and happinefs to yourfclves and your pofterity, but your example will be imitated by all Europe, and in time perhaps by all mankind. The^uations are in travail, and great events muft hav^JMrth. " The minds of men are in movement from the Bcrifthenes to the Atlantic. Agitated with new and ftrong emotions, they fwelhmd heave beneath oppreflion, as the feas within the polar circle., at the approach of fpring. The genius of philcfo- phy, with the touch of IthuriePs fpear, is trying M the
$o DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
the cflablifhments of the earth. The variou* ; forms of prejudice, fuperftition and fervility, ftart o up, in their true fhapes, which had long impofed ; / upon the world, under the revered femblances of
*' honor, faith and loyalty. Whatever is loofc muft be fhaken ; whatever is corrupted muft be >•/}#//• J°pt away; whatever is not built on the broad n *^h ' k^is °* public utility, muft be thrown to the ~ " ground. Obfcure murmurs g'ather and fwell into a tempeft ; the fpirit of enquiry like a fevere and ami fearc|img wind, penetrates every part of the great body politic ; and whatever is unfound, what- ever is infirm, flirinks at the vifitation. Liberty, led by philofophy, difTufes her bleifings to every i **Jg* clafs of men ; and even extends a fmile of hope <&* /b XR(^ promife to the poor African, the victim of hard impenetrable avarice. Man, as man, be* <?/. comes an object of refpeft. Tenets are transfer- from theory to practice. The glowing fen-
.. .
timent, the lofty ipeculation, no longer lerve dJ. <- „ .„
~, ' ° ' brought home to men's bufinefs and bofcms ; and h^. ^what fome centuries ago, it was daring but to .- // /«:» ^A"- t-ink, and dangerous to exprefs, is now realized
and carried into effect. Syftems are analyfed '*' *?• into their firft principles, and principles are fairly
purfued to their legitimate confequences."
This is all enchanting. — But amidft our enthu- {iafm, there is great reafon to paufe, and preferve our fobriety. It is true, that the firil empire of the world is breaking the fetters of human reafon and exerting the energies of redeemed liberty. In the glowing ardor of her zeal, fhe condef- cends. AMERICANS, to pay the moft fcrupulous attention to your maxims, principles and exam- ple. There is reafon to fear {he has copied from
you
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA, 91
% you errors, which have coft you very dear. Vi c^j
Afllft her, by your example, to rectify them be- f.^^^< «-»i ^ fore they involve her in calamities, as much * greater than yours, as her population is more--" ^"* * unwieldy, and her fituation more expofed to the /fr/3, ^rl ' baleful influence of rival neighbours. Amidil all t&i-*.'* ^"^f-. their exultations, AMERICANS and FRENCHMEN /, , / fk*-~* "-< fliould remember, that the perfectability of man,* *" ; . /?^ is only human and terreftial pcrfcctability. Cold. *>//A will Hill freeze, and fire will never ceafe to burn : , r T ,,/, *•>»'' </^"k- difeafe and vice will continue to diforder, and death to terrify manV'-.J.. Emulation next to 2 3 felf prefervation wil7 forever be the great fpring of human actions, and the balance of a well or- dered government, will alone be able to prevent that emulation from degenerating into dangerous ambition, irregular rivalries, deftruclive factions, wafting feditions, and bloo dy ciyilwars. /, 7
The great queftion will forever remain, who }-f£o fh& Jhall work ? Our fpecies cannot all be idle. Lei- fure for iludy muft ever be the portion of a few. The number employed in government, mufl for- ever be very fmall. Food, raiment and habita- tions, the indifpeniible wants of all, are not to be obtained without the continual toil of ninety- nine in an hundred of mankind. As reft is rap- ture to the weary man, thofe who Libo*- little will always be envied by thofe who labor much, though the latter, in reality, be probably the moft enviable. With all the encouragements public and private, which can ever be gi^en to general education, and it is fcarcely poffible they ihould be too many, or too great, the laboring part of the people, can never be learned, The controversy between the rich and the poor, the laborious and the idle, the learned and the igno- rant,
9* DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
rant, diftinctions as old as the creation, and as extenfive as the globe ; diftinctions which no art or policy, no degree of virtue or philofophy can ever wholly deftroy, will continue, and rivalries will fprirg out of them. Thefe parties will be reprefented in the legislature, and muft be bal- anced, or one will opprefs the other. There will never probably be found, any other mode of eftablifhing fuch an equilibrium, than by confti- tuting the reprefentation of each, an independent branch of the legiflature, and an independent executive authority, fuch as that in our govern- ment, to be a third branch, and a mediator or an arbitrator between them. Property muft be fe- cured, or liberty cannot exift : but if unlimited3 or unballanced power of difpofing property, be put into the hands of thofe, who have no pro- perty, France will find, as we have found, the lamb committed to the cuftody of the wolf. In fuch a cafe, all the pathetic exhortations and ad- drefles of the National Affernbly to the people, to refpect property, will be regarded no more than the warbles of the fongfters of the foreft. The great art of law-giving confifts in balancing the poor againft the rich in the legiflature, and in conftituting the legiflative, a perfect balance a- gainfl the executive power, at the fame time, that no individual or party can become its rival, The efTence of a free government confifts in an effectual controul of rivalries. The executive and the legiflative powers are natural rivals ; and if each, has not an effectual controul over the other, the weaker, will ever be th<* lamb in the paws of the wolf. The nation which wil not adopt an equilibrium of power, muft adopt a defpotifm, There is no other alternative. Ri-
airies
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 95
valries muft be controuled, or they will throw- all things into confuiion ; and there is nothing but deipotifm, or a balance of power, which can controul them. Even in the {imple monarchies, the nobility and the judicatures, conflitute a bal- ance, though a. very imperfect one, againft the royalties. A Jt .
Let us conclude with one reflection more, which mall barely be hinted at, as delicacy, if not ..> ^ prudence, may require, in this place, fome degree ., •, ofreferve. Is there a poflibility, that the gov-V/>AiVJ m^ ernment of nations may fall into the hands of men, who teach the moft difconfoiate of all creeds, that men are but fire-flies, and that this all is without a father ? Is this the way, to make man, as man, an object of refpect ? Or is it, to make murder itfelf , as indifferent as mooting a plover, and the extermination of the Rohilla na- tion, as innocent, as the fwallowing of mites, on a morfel of cheefe ? If fuch a cafe mould happen, would not one ofthefe, the moft credulous of all believers, have reafon to pray, to his eternal na- ture, or his almighty chance, (the more abfurdity there is in this ad irefs the more in character) give us again the gods of the Greeks — give us again the more intelligible as well as more comfortable fys • terns of Athanajius and Calvin — nay, give us again our Popes and Hiearchies, Benediftines and Jefuits9 •with all their fuperftition and fanaticifm^ impqftures 7f, (/ / ' c A end tyranny. • A certain Dutchefs of venerable *L ^ years and mafculine underftanding, (aid of fome^/? JinuMl * of the Philofophers of the eighteenth century, J/c/ admirably well, " On ne croit pas, dans le Chrift- v$ //Ac tt-*. Unifme, mais on croit, toutesles fottifespofTibles.", .^/k/w/W/
7/1* . fltiih ov heard fa £$t Jlf&rdJ jLr&im 7kti{ oAr.y// < Jlro~n.
*
"^ ; DISCOURSES ON
(Ji.rti'e* <-n &«r UffnJ oj>f>**t<A V« France a
(Ae6.gi<
No. i6.
Oppofant, fans reluche, avec trop de prudence, Les GK.'/^/ aux CondJs, et la France a la France. Toujours prete a s'unir avec ies ennemis tt changeant d'interet, de rivaux, et d'amls.
4*3. THE rivalry, between the houfes of Guife and rr^Montmorency, or in other words, the ambition of the Cardinal de Lorrain, and the Duke o£ Guife, to outftrip the Montmorency, produced a (, h cwL* &. war. Charles the Vth. was preparing with a numerous army to lay fiege to Metz. It was not doubted that the conducl of fo important a war, would be committed to one of the two favorites. , ^ But the Conftable Montmorency, more than
fixty years of age, preferred a refidence near the 'perfon of the King, to a rifque of his reputation, / in new dangers. The Duke of Guife, on the Li LLI!>I ' contrary, full of courage, and burning with ardor
" to diilinguifh himfelf, folicited the command,
with the more vivacity, as he faw no other re- fource than in military fuccefTes, to efface the credit, and eclipfe the glory of the Conftable. He was therefore charged with the defence of Metz, with the confent, or at leaft, without the oppofi- tion of the Conftable, who internally, was not difpleafed to fee his competitor, expofe his life, or his reputation to danger. The Duke fulfilled perfectly, the idea, which had been conceived of his valor and prudence — uncertain as the fuccefs of the enterprife had been, he came out of it vic- • (l> torious, and covered with glory. This great action did him fo much honor with the King, and
the
diet t^rtfittc-,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 95
tKe whole nation, that they committed to him, in preference of all others, the comni.u.d u: the army, whieh they lent afterwards to Italy, to ve- ., . conquer the kingdom of Naples, l-'.ither by the ^"*/ fault of the French, or the inconftancy of their allies, this expedition failed, or, at lealt produced little advantage : Yet the ill fuccefs was not im- ' ^ puted to the Duke, who drew from it mor^ glory than he could have done from a viclory . For this rcafon : Philip the i'econcl Kinff of . f/ff
/If / '
Spain, upon the abdication cf his father, Charles JfoAta&ffn. the Vth. turned his arms againft the frontiers of 6l £ha France, and entered through Flanders into Pi- cardie, to make a diverlion from the war in Italy. The Conftable, as Governor of that Province, was then obliged to take leave of the King, and, againft his inclination, run the hazards of war. ,
The lofs of the battle of Saint-Quintin, where Jc3ut the Spaniards took him priibner, f'prcad a cou- fternation through all the neighbouring provm- u**/'**"'' ces. The friends ot the Guiles in council, could A difcover no furer means of repelling this inva- fion of the enemy, of repairing the loiles, and preventing the confcquenccs of this defeat, than by recalling from Italy the Duke of Guile. The celerity of his return, added to the memora- ble conquefts of Calais, Guifne, and Thionville, fully juitified thefe hopes, and gave hirrTthat fii-fyuif •*-.€. perionty over the Conftable, that a Conqueror'^Tu an muft ever have over one who is conquered.
The Conftable, however, obtained his liberty, and returned to court. The Kind's aiTjdion tor
•
him was not abated. Henry, attributing his late misfortunes to the lot of arms, and the fortune of war, converted familiarly with him, and, itill convinced of his capacitv, confided to him the
4 *
weight of public affairs. In the critical circum-
fiances
$6 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
fiances of the State, the Duke and the Cardinal^, who had acquired a great reputation, the one by his exploits, and the other by his abilities, appre* hended that if they could not throw fome pow- erful obilacle in the way of the Conftable, he would rife higher in favor than ever. They re- Iblved therefore to gain to their party, Diana, Dutchefs of Valentinois — to conned their in- terefts with hers — and to make her protection and favor ferve as a foundation of their elevation. And who was Diana ? Of illuftrious birth, de- fcended from the ancient houfe of the Counts of iPoitiers, in the flower of her age, Ihe united with uncommon beauty, a fprightly wit, an acute and fubtle underflanding, the moft iniinuating graces of behavior, and all the other qualities which in a young woman, enchant the eyes and ' -( oi caP^vate the heart* She had married the Sene-
/ Achal of Normandy, who foon left her a widow, C _' «*»<£*<'*• . ' ' , 'c
fi _/rV>~»-«Ovltn two daughters. She took advantage or ner fingle ftate to deliver herfelf up to the pleaf- ures and amufements of the Court. Her charms fir i- / ~J gam£d the heart of the King, whom me govern- l£ ed with an abfolute empire. But me behaved with fo much arrogance, and appropriated to herfelf the riches of the crown, with fo much a- vidity, that Ihe made herfelf odious and infup- portable to the whole kingdom. The Queen, full of indignation, to have a rival fo powerful, behaved towards her with an exterior decency, but in her heart bore her an implacable hatred. o-i., fr^f ^ The nobility, whom me had ill treated in the ' perfons of ieveral gentlemen, could n,ot with pa- tiep.ce, fee themfelves trampled under foot by the pride of a woman — and the people detefted her • avarice — to which they imputed the ligorous Tt.Qf>£*-t impofts, with which they were loaded.
The
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 97
The Guiles, without regard to the general difcontent — ieniible only to the fear of lofing their power, fought the friendfliip of the Dutch- efs, who foon declared herfelf openly in their favor, and by marrying one of her daughters to ,.
the Duke of Aumale, their brother, fupported J. of- them with all her credit. The Conftable eafily (k-rol*<"of /* unravelled the intrigues of the Guiles, and, not depending on the marks of confidence which he received from the King, thought to fortify him- £5 t a™ felf, equally, with the protection of Diana. If the Guifes had flattered her, by the fplendor of their birth, he did not defpair to gain her to his intereft, by fathting her avarice, a paliion as un * governable in her heart, as ambition. He began to make his court to her, and endeavored to gain her by considerable prefents. He had fo much at heart the fuccefs of his meafures, that in fpite of his natural pride, he did not hefitate to feek alfo her alliance by efpoufing to Henry M Lord of Damville, his fecond fon, Antoinette de t
la Mark, grand daughter by the mother, of the Dutchefs of Valentinois — a refolution fo much* $*° the more imprudent, as Diana was already °i ftrictly united with the party of the Guifes, and labor'd lincerely, with all her power, for their aggrandizement — whereas me favored but coldly the defigns of the Conftable. All the means which had been employed in opposition to the elevation of the Guiles, became ufelefs. To the merit of their fervices — to the intrigues by which they had continually advanced themfelves ; at the time, when they difputed with fo much vivacity with their rivals, for the firft rank at the Court, was added, the marriage of Francis, the Dauphin of France, and the eldef: fon of the
$8 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
1 V • i !» //• ^no' w^^ t'ie Prmcefs Mary, fole heir of thtf ' kingdom of Scotland, daughter of James Stuart* W/?*^ lateiy deceafed, by Mary of Lorrain, lifter of the •Burned ff Duke and Cardinal. An alliance of fo much . cr!r magnificence, drew them near to the throne. AT There remained now, to the Conftable and his J «•< family, only the friendly fentiments, which the Kmg prefervedfor them by habit; and. to the other courtiers, only the offices of fmaller impor- tance. The principal dignities, the faireft gov- ernments, and the general fuperintendance of affairs, civil and military, all were placed in the hands of the Guifes and their creatures.
While all minds, were held in agitation at Court by thefe events, the Bourbons faw them- felves, notwithstanding their proximity of blood,
•_- w »w * 4 — -** y i^j A
A' a(tef and pretenfions to the crown, contrary to the " * ufage of the nation, excluded from employments and honors. Except when the neceffity of a war, or the exercife of fome office of little confe- quence, which remained to them, required their prefence, they appeared not at Court. It is true, that the Count D'Aguien, one of the Princes fayutc-n o£ tllis houfe, had advanced himfelf by his merit and valour. The King had given him' the com- mand of his army in Piedmont. The battle of
W* otfc$ Cerizolles, which he gained againft the Spaniards, had raifed his reputation. But this advantage was too tranfitory to raife the houfe of Bourbon. This Prince died by accident, in the flower of his age, and his brother, the Duke D'Anguien was W/it killed at the battle of St. Quintin. There re- mained therefore none of the children of Charles of Bourbon, but Anthony Duke of Vendome, •and King of Navarre, by his marriage with Jane of Albret : Louis, Prince of Conde, the flock of
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 99
the branches of Conde and Conti, killed after- wards at Jarnac, and Charles, Cardinal of Bour- bon, proclaimed King afterwards by the Leaguers, under the name of Charles the tenth.
The chiefs of the houfe, were now, Anthony Duke of Vendome, and Louis Prince of Conde, his brother, both fons of Charles of Vendome, who, after the revolt of the Conftable de Bour- bon, and the captivity of Francis the firft, by his moderation and diiintereftednefs . had fome- what calmed the hatred which had been violent- ly enkindled againft thofe of his blood. Thefe Princes, depreffcd by the Guifes, whom they called ftrangers and new comers from Lorrain, complained bitterly, that except the right of fuc- cefllon to the crown, which no man could take from them, they were deprived of all their privi- leges, and efpecially of the honor of refiding near the perfon of the King. That they fcarcely held any rank in a court, where their birth called them to the firft places after his Majefty : and that fuch conduct was equally inconfiilent with reafon and equity. The King, however, maintained with inflexibility, the power of the Guifes againft all remonftrances and complaints. The Bourbons endured with lefs impatience, the elevation of the Conftable Montmorency : on the contrary, they were feverely mortified to fee his credit di- minifh. United with him by an alliance, by views and by interefts, they flattered themfelves they might obtain by his means a decent rank, if they could not re-afcend to that which their an- ceftors had poffeffed. But now, deprived of that hope which fupports the unfortunate, by foften- ing the fentiment of their ills, they bore with Hill greater impatience their difgraces.
Anthony
ico DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
A it Anthony of Vendome, a Prince of a mild and
moderate character, appeared to fupport them with more tranquility than the others, becaufe he meditated great defigns. He had married Jane of Albret, only daughter of Henry, King of Navarre, and after the death of his father in law he had taken the crown and title of King. His project was to recover his kingdom of Navarre, of which the Spaniards had made themfelves matters, for feveral years, during the war be- tween Louis the Xllth, and Ferdinand the Ca- tholic. The Kings of France, to whofe intereft this ftate had been facrificed, had attempted feveral times to reconquer it. The Spaniards, who could eafily march troops to its relief, had hitherto defended it. But the two crowns, being then upon the point of concluding a folid peace, the King of Navarre, hoped to comprehend in the treaty, and to obtain a reftitution of his hereditary ftates, or, at leaft, an equivalent. He was confirmed in this thought, by the birth of a Ion, to whom he gave the name of Henry, in memory of his maternal grandfather. This is the Prince, whom, the fplendor of his victories raifed, after long and bloody wars, to the throne il , of France, under the name of Henry the fourth,
". and whofe exploits and virtues have merited the
of™ , name of great. He was born the i3th ofDe- /3 Jtc /$$i cember, 1554, at Pau, the capital of Bern. This mJL ^>CLU^ birth, which filled with joy the King and Queen of Navarre, infpired them with more ardor, to recover their dominion. Anthony chofe rather to intereft the King of France, to demand this reftitution in the treaty of peace, than to folicit in quality of firft Prince of the blood, govern- ments and dignities in the kingdom. It was
i
•J.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 101
this, \vhich engaged him to diiTemble with more
patience and moderation than the reft, the in-
juftice done to his houie. The King, perfilling
in the dciign of lowering continually the Princes
of the blood, or perhaps irritated at the refuf xl
of Anthony, to exchange Beam and his other
ftates, for cities and territories fituated in the in- ^tl
terior of the kingdom, had difmembered from
O 7
Guienne, of which the King of Navarre was gov- f ^
ernor, as firft Prince of the blood, Languedcc
and the city of Touloufe, to give the government
of it, to the Conftable. But the King of Navarre,
ihewing little rcientment of this injuftice, pur-
fued conftantly his firft views. / ' /? '
Louis, Prince of Conde, brother to the King' of Navarre, full of ambition and inquietude,^ and not reftrained by fiimlar interefts, faw with grief the mediocrity of his fortune, anfwer fo ill to the fplendor of his birth. Without offices, governments, or employments to fupport him, he could not bear, but with a difcontent which he took no pains to conceal, the exceilive gran- deur of the Guifes, who monopolized for them- felves the firft dignities and faireft employments of the kingdom. To his perional mortification he joined the difgrace of the Conftable, whofe niece he had efpoufed. He was fo ftriclly con- nected with him, and the Marchal of Montmoren- cy his fon, that he faw in the humiliation of their houfe, the completion of his own misfortunes. The Admiral of Chatillon, and D'Endelot, his brother, irritated him ftill more by their advice. The firft was an ambitious, but an able politician, who took a fecret advantage of all occafions, to profit of troubles to raii'e himfelf to high power. The other, fiery, paiuonate, continually occupied
in
102 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
in intrigues and plots, ceafed not, by his difcourfe and example to nourim in the heart of Louis, the hatred already too deeply inkindled. This Prince, transported with rage, and almoft redu- ced to defpair, faw no refource for him, but by caufing a revolution in the State.
Such was the iituation of affairs — fuch thejea- louiies and animcfitcs of the Grandees, ready, on the flighted occafion, to break out, in an open rupture, when, in the month of July 1559, hap- pened the unexpected death of Henry lid. killed U f~^ by accident in a tournament by Gabriel Count of Montmorency, one of the Captains of his guards.
Francis lid. his eldeft fon, with a weak under- {landing, and a delicate conflitution, fucceeded him. Thole evils, which even under his father had been expected, haftened to make themfelves felt, under his feeble reign. Secret enmities were eafily changed into declared hatreds — and recourfe was foon had to arms. The youth and imbecility of the King rendered him incapable of governing. It was neceflary that he mould have ; not a guardian, becaufe he had paffed the as;e of
c ° 7 . r i r i • .
rourteen years, the term iixed for the majority of the Kings of France ; but Minifters, prudent and laborious, who fhouid govern under his au- thority, until time mould have fortified his un- derftanding, and invigorated his conftitution. The ancient ufage of the kingdom, called the Princes of the blood to this place — and indicated the King of Navarre, and the Prince de Conde, who united to the proximity of blood, an eftab- lifhed reputation. The Duke of Guife and the Cardinal of Lorrain, uncles of the King, by his a / {(ttfa marriage with the Queen of Scots, pretended that ' ^ ' » this
I
nu
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 103
this honor belonged to them, in confideration Q^
O * l*^Y +* f-
their long labors and fervices to the crown, but o-i J* cL+am efpecially bccaufe they had in fact enjoyed it, LJ^ /A* d-ici.fr
during the life of the late King. Catherine of / //
Mcdicis, mother of the King, expected to govern ' t ^
alone : She depended on the filial tendernefs of
her fon — feveral examples authorifed her preten-
fions — but fhe founded her ftrengeft hopes on
the diviilons of the Grandees — and the terror of
each faction, leafl the other mould carry the
point, facilitated her defign.
The Guifes were fenfible that they wanted the advantage of being of the blood, to which the laws and cuftoms of the nation had ufually confi- ded the government of the kingdom. They fore- faw moreover the empire which the councils of a mother would have over the mind of her fon, ftill young and without experience. They re- iblved therefore, by joining and acting in concert with her, to divide a power which they defpair- ed of obtaining entire. The Queen, a Princefs refined genius and mafculine courage, knew that^^1^ the Princes of the blood, fuffered with impatience^ the authority and grandeur of Queens. She thought alfo, that as a ftranger and an Italian me had occafion to fortify herfelf, with the fupport of fome faction. She confented therefore cheer- fully to combine with the Guifes, whom fhe faw difpofed to accept of part of that authority, which the Bourbons would have pretended to appropriate to thernfelves without partition. » /
There was but one obftacle to the intimacy of this Union, and that was the unlucky connection of the Guifes with the Dutchefs of Valentinois, who had poffcffed the heart of the late King, to the »-»«
time of his death. The occaficn was 'preiling,
and lf>'
Z
104 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
and the importance of the bufmefs would not ad- mit of delay. On one hand the Queen, to whom diilimulation was not difficult, agreed to appear, to forget the pad, with the fame moderation which me had fliewn, in bearing with her rival during the life of her husband : On the other, the Guifes occupied wholly with their prefent intereft, eafily betrayed their friend, by c.onfent- ,- ing that the Dutchefs Ihould be difgraced and <U» diimiffed from the Court. They only required tjiat ft^ fllouid not be totally ftripped of thofe immenfe riches, which muft one day revert to the Duke of Aumale, their brother.
The King of Navarre, was then abfent, and very difcontented with the King and the Court, who, in the treaty concluded with Spain, had given no attention to his interefts, nor to the reilitution of his States. The new coalition at Court, had, with great addrefs, dillembarraired f (rnitatu themfelves of the Conftable, by deputing him to c'° t^ie nonors °f tne obfequies of Henry the fecond. The perfonage who has that com- miffion, muft not abfent himfelf from the place where the body is depofited, during the three and thirty days that the funeral pomp continues. Artifice and accident, having thus removed- the two great obftacles, it was not difficult to obtain, of Francis the fecond. feduced by the carefles and the charms of his Scctlilii Queen, an arrangement by which he placed the reins of government, in the hands of his neareit relations. Every thing which concerned the war, was committed to the Duke of Guife. The Cardinal had the depart- ments of Juftice and Finance — and the Queen mother the fuperintendance of all parts 01 the government. To eftabHfh their meaiures, which
had
a,*«(Mt. .'< ffm _^< n . ov«-
/e>iJ « ^-fclSCOURSES ON DAVILA. *o>^ J^ Wr*/
had fo well fucceeded, and that the complaints
and intrigues of the difaffeded might not fhakE
the refolution of the King, and disarrange their,
plan, there was no doubt but the firft ftroke df .,, ,A
their policy would fall upon the Conftable, whofe^ ™ ^ '
prudence and credit were dreaded by the
and againft whom the Queen had for
time entertained a fecret averfion. The
feared him, on account of the jealoufy, which
for a long time had openly divided their houfes — °, '
becaufe, notwithftanding the fall of his favour at ^ n 6 .
court, the reputation of his wifdom, preferved ^ /d> te ,
him a great influence throughout the whole king-^
dom. In their fecret interviews wi!h the King,c?/v^j£'"
they artfully drew the converfation to this fub- ~ M
jeft, and exaggerated to him the reputation • \
which the Conftable enjoyed.
6
No. 17.
Ses mains, autour dn trone, avec confuflon, Semaient lajaloufie, et la divifion.
»- n •/•• *t. • r r *• -*i
e, Guiles, in their iecret conventions with
the King, infmuated, that if the Conftable refided^'>^/^ at the Court, he would be alfaming ; \vould think jf * ^j ^ ftu 'JH to govern his Majefty like an infant, and even"y ctY% ci
to hold him under the ferule and the rod. They ^ ^ke
reprefented his intimate conneclions with the *
Bourbons, the eternal enemies of a crown, tp(*.& which they had however long afpired. Finally,^ they fuggefted, that he could not confide in o '.
*, ff'-r < ™ . ~
•
ft*
f .. J . ^^106 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
' i L'^V"^ *" ^*
1 /A at ^ ^ Conftable, without expofing his life, and the /« lives of his brothers, to the difcretion of people,
'Uyiy ^ " **^ -whofe ambition the Kings, his predecefibrs, had (TVrmA It" ^^^''always dreaded j and whom they had ever held / Ik**- ^n a ^-ate of humiliation, and at a diftance from Court. Penetrating genius eafily infpires fuf- picions into contracted minds. Nothing more ^> was wanting to perfuade a weak King, to feek a HI J rfutf*. pretext, honourably to difmifs the Conftable. As ^^^ foon as the ceremony of the obfequies of Henry jj^^ was COmpleated, the King overwhelming him m*/ja<nrtt with car effes, fignified to him, that not being able, with fufficient dignity to acknowledge his merit, nor the value of the fervices which he had rendered the Kings, his anceftors, he had, refolv- ed to difcharge him from the cares and burthens of government, too difproportionate to his great age ; that he would no longer require of him, any exceflive application to bufmefs, but would referve him for fome occafions of eclat ; that he {hould always coniider him, not as a fervant and a fubject, but as a venerable father; and that he would give him leave to retire, wherever he faw &LuStJ *3utu.-H fi^ The Conftable eafily comprehended that this ri fit -iru *efi°n nacl been taught the King, by the Guifes, /' through the Queen mother, and the Queen of Scots: that it would be ufelefs to remonftrate; and that it was better to receive as a recompenfe, orders, which his refiftance might convert into difgrace, He thanked the King ; recommended to him his fons and his nephews, and retired to his caftle at Chantilly, ten leagues from Paris, where, he had more than once before, fupported viciffitudes of fortune.
As foon as the Queen mother and the Guifes, had bammed the Conftable, they ftudied to dif-
embarraf*
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 107
embarrafs themfelves of the Prince de Conde.
It was eafy to forefee, that his fiery temper, Jf.Xt t iu*<~> and
and animoftty againft the Guifes, would tranf- tkou,r&on$
port him to attempt all the means imaginable, to^
change the form of government cftablijhed.
It may be remarked in this place, that thefe ex- preflions intimate an idea of reformation of gov- ernment, and regeneration of nations, like thofe which prevail at this time, in France, and in many other countries after the example of A- merica. One would conjecture that the Prince of Conde, had it in contemplation to eftablifh, committees of correfpondence, to call a conven- tion, or national aflembly ; to deliberate on a ra- tional plan of government, to be adopted by the nation at large. There are, indeed, in hiftory, fome traces of a party, who wilhed for a republi- can government, about this time : but unfortu- nately, their ideas of a republic, appear to have been the fame, with thofe which prevail too much at prefent, in France. Two hundred and fifty years of experience, have not yet brought the nation to advert to the true principles in nature, / L A upon which government is founded. The Mar-;£'** quis of Condorcet, the friend of Turgot and^/- Tunrjrt> Rochefoucault, fo great in geometry, is not more accurate in the fcience of government, than Eti-
enne de la Boetie, the friend of De Thou and-^ v
"
Montaine. The fame reformation is now, that was fo neceffary in 1550. ( Whether fovereignty in one fmgle aflembly,^conftituted /
by a double^ representation, as the prefent affem- i.e. of bly'is, would have anfwered then, or will fucceed /k*V* £s now, are queftions that hereafter may deferve confideration. It ended formerly, after an hun- dred years sf civil wars, in the fimple abfolute
io8 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
ij
' monarchy of Louis XlVth. Time muft determine whether the continued deliberations and exer- tions of the National AiTembly, will finally obtain a balance in their government. This_js_the rt /- Si . point, on which their fuccefs will turn t if theV
L I Ufa C U/TVi ( J f2*r» 377=~V^r- — -7-1 7= — — = — — ,-- ~—ff
iail in this, iimple monarchy, or what is more to
M ] H J perfifted in, the men of letters and the National *? \ Affembly, as democratical as they may think ' t*S a^ themfelves, will find no barrier againit defpotifm. k. la h x-rfi* Tke prenci1? as weu as tjie Creek Indians, 'at this 1*.o.tu*> asrvi** t}me our refpectable guefts, and all other nations, civilized and uncivilized, have their beloved families, and nothing but defpotifm ever did or ever can prevent them from being diftinguifhed; by the people Thefe beloved families in France are the nobility. Five eighths of the prefent National Affembly are noble. The firft frefli election will mow the world the attachment of the people to thofe families.* In ihort, the whole power of the nation will fall into their hands, and a commoner will ftand no chance for an election after a little time, unlefs he enlift himfelf under the banner and into the regiment of fome nobleman. For the commoners, this project of one affembly. is the moft impolitic imaginable. It is the higheft flight of ariftocracy. To the royal authority it is equally fatal as to the com- mons. In what manner the nobility ou^ht to
Jhc Jsiood oi. , r i-r: j T. j- j j
be reiormed., modified, methodized, and wrought by reprefentation or otherwife, into an indepen- dent branch of the legilkture ? What form of government would have been beft for France, under Francis lid. and whether the fame is not
cow
i * They never dared to tru,1 an Elcuior-.-
. fkt. tin. //»/-*- 'v u "* (.$ta~^ a^f^^. "
•j y I/
ol'Sflt fcTetk ffa£ thact <>ucsrf
r a/>
(4^
T . <
r-
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. to* bfo*jM ^
_. . ^-T., , >.
now neccllary, under Louis XVIth, are queitions ^.
too deep and extenfive, perhaps for us to deter- r
mine. But we are very competent to demon- J?c6t &
ftrate two propofitions, firft, that a fovereignty
in a fingle afiembly, cannot fecure the peace,
liberty or fafety of the people. Secondly, that
r i • IT • i \ t* 0
a tedcrative republic, or in other words, a con- federation of the republic of Paris, with the re. publics of the provinces, will not be fufficient to fecure the tranquility, liberty, property or lives '# of the nation. In fome future time, if neither
, r r r - r
buiinets or more importance, nor amuiements more agreeable mould engage us, we may thit3tr together a few thoughts, upon thefe queflions.t/'' This may be done .without thefmalleft apprehen- fion of ever being confuted : for altho we mould fail to produce arguments to convince our rea- ders, wre know with infallible certainty, that time will fupply all our defects, and demonftrate./^/^.., for us, the' truth of both the propolitions.
At prefent we return to the narration of 3D&» vila. The Prince de Conde's quality of Prince ^ ^ ^^^^ ^~ of the blood, and the want of plaulible pretexts,
• i >~i T r r\ Tr -r T. • 9/^-<f^/"-^ "^
did not permit the Guiles, io ealily to aiimils him .
from court. They found, however, a favorable J"" *'^*' occaiion to fend him off, for a time, till the new "v " e Miniflry fhould" be well eftablimed, by nomina-/;0n^e ting him Plenipotentiary, to the King of Spain, t>u.Jsa.4t*r to ratify the peace and alliance contracted a little,. :pain,m before the death of Henry lid. He quitted the / ' court upon this embaiTy, and left the field open for the perfection of projects, which were as y only in (ketches* The Queen mother and the Guifes proceeded in the fame manner with all whom they feared : Strongly determined to confumrmte their defigr.s, they judged that they
could
"*"* *•*••* v*-<
ir« DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
could not fucceed, but by arranging all the ilrong places, as well as the troops, the finances, and all the refources of the ftate, under their own difpofition ; fo that the moft important af- fairs fliould pafs through no hands but their own, and thofe of their creatures. Neverthelefs, to fhow that they confulted their mtereft lefs than the public good and their own glory, they did not elevate to dignities, people without merit, and drawn from the duft, for fear they fhould be thought to make creatures for themfelves at any rate : but they conferred favors only on per- fons, who added acknowledged merit to con- fpicuous birth, and above all, eftimable in the eyes of the people for integrity. This conduct had a double advantage, the firft, that the people commonly applauded their choice, and their op- ponents had no pretence to condemn it : the iecond, that confiding in perfons of honor and fi- delity, they were not expofed to be deceived, nor to fufpect their attachment, as it often happens to thofe who commit the execution of their de- ligns to people of bafe extraction, or difhonored by their manners. In this view, they reftored to office, Francis Olivier, formerly chancellor of the kingdom, a perfonage of known integrity and inflexible firmnefs, in the exercife of his employ- ment. The vigor with which he avowed and fupported his fentiments, had caufed his dif- miflion from court, from the beginning of the reign of Henry lid. and the iniligations of the Conftable had not a little contributed to his dif- , grace. They recalled alfo to council, and near the perfon of the King, the Cardinal de Tournon, <fn, who, in the time of Francis Ift. grand-father of the reigning Prince, had the principal conduct of
affairs.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. MI , #/
affairs. By thefe meafures they flattered the multitude, and fulfilled the expectations of the public, without neglecting their own interefts.
The probity of the Cardinal and the Chancellor, had rendered them dear to the people, who knew how often they had declared themfelves againft the multiplication of impofts, with which they were opprelTed. Moreover, difgraced by the in- trigues of the Conftable, and recalled with honor by the Guifes, they muft, both from refentment and gratitude, fupport with their counfels, and all their influence, the projects of aggrandizement, formed by the latter. Many others had been gained by fnnilar artifices : but the fame manage- ment was not ufed with the houfe of Bourbon, nor \yith the family of the Conftable. On the contrary, the Princes of Lorrain, drawn away by the defire of annihilating the credit of their an- cient rival, and of abafing the royal family, feized with ardor, every occafion of diminilhing the authority and increafmgthelofTes of their enemies.
The Admiral Gafpard de Coligni, had two different governments ; that of the Ifle of France, and that of Picardie ; but as the laws of the kingdom, permitted not the poffeilion of more than one dignity, or one government at the fame time, the late King had deftined that of Picardies to the Prince de Conde, to appeafe his refentment and foften his complaints. The Prince earneitly defired this favor, to which, indeed, he had juit pretenfions. His father, and the King of Navarre had fucceilivcly held it j and the Admiral had refigned it, in confideration of the Prince. But the death of Henry lid. happening near the £ame time, had hindered the effect of this arrangement, which had already been made public. Francis
the
1 1 2 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA,
the lid. had no regard to it. At the felicitation of the Guifes, and by a manifefl injuftice to the Prince, he granted this place to Charles de Cofle, Marcchal de Briflac, a captain of high reputation and great valor j but who having been promoted by the favor of the Princes of Lorrain, was clofe- Jy attached to them and ferved them with zeal. \ Nor was there more attention paid to Francis of
Montmorency, the eldeft fon of the Ccnftable. He had married Diana, natural daughter of Henry lid. In conlideration of this marriage, he had 1 been promifed, the office of grand mailer of the
J> King's houfehold, a place which had been long
n held by his father. From the firft days of the
y^t"**'4 reign of Francis lid. the Duke of Guife, took it c -fi[fa for himfelf, that he might add this new eclat to //i di Rival*, his other dignities, as well as deprive of it, an houfe which he wilhed to deprefs. Thus the Duke and the Cardinal, embraced with ardor, . every occafion of mortifying their rivals, and
aggrandizing themfelves. The Queen mother, jsvho forefaw that this unlimited ambition and this violent hatred, muft have fatal effects, defired that they mould act with more moderation, man- agement and dexterity ; but Ihe dared not, in the beginning, oppofe herfelf to the wills, nor traverfe the deligns of thofe, whofe influence was the principal fupport of her authority.
At this time the Bourbons, excluded from all parts of the government, banimed from court, and without hopes of carrying their complaints to the foot of the throne, beginning to reflect upon the iituation of their affairs, and the con- duct of their enemies, who, not content with their prefent grandeur, labored by all forts of means to perpetuate it, refolved, to remain no
longer
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 113
longer inactive fpectators of their own misfor- # tunes, but to prevent the ruin that threatened them. To this purpofe a convention was called, and we fhall ibon fee what kind of convention it was. Anthony, King of Navarre, after having left in Beam his fon, yet an infant, under the conduct of the Queen his wife, as in an afylum, at a diilance from that conflagration, which they faw ready to be lighted up, in France, repaired to Vendome, with the Prince of Conde, already re- turned from his embafly : the Admiral, Dande-?A.c lot, and the Cardinal of Chatillon, his brothers, Charles Compte de la Rochefoucault, Francis Vidame de Chartres, Antony Prince of Portien, all relations or common friends, affembled alfo, with feveral other noblemen attached for many years to the houfes of Montmorency and Baur- bon. The Conilable, who, altho to all appearance wholly engaged in the delights of private life, fecretly fet in motion all the fprings of this enter- prize, had fent to this afTembly at Ardres, his an- cient and confidential Secretary, with inftructions /{ > concerning the affairs to be there agitated. They ^ y • took into confideration the part which it was neceiTary to acl in the prefent conjuncture of af- fairs. All agreed in the fame end, but opinions as ufual, were divided concerning the means. All e- qually felt theatrocious affronts committedagainfl the Princes of the blood, for the Guifes, had not only taken the firft places in the government, but the fmall number of dignities which had remained to them. They faw evidently that the defign was nothing lefs, than to oppreis thefe Princes and their partizans. All perceived the necefiity f of
ii4 DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA.
of preventing fo preffing a danger, without wait- ing for the lad extremity. But they were not equally agreed concerning the meafures proper to ward it off.
No. 18.
L'un et 1'autre parti cruel egalement,
Ainfi que dans le crime, eft dans 1'aveuglement. ,,/,
a, i ,.^ the affembly, convention, caucus, or con-
fljLLCU/> r . A i ii-i * i •' i
i fpiracy, at Ardres, call it by which name you n j . will, the prince de Conde, the Vidame de Char- %/» YuYc-4. tres^ Dandelot and others, of a character more irritable and violent, were of opinion, that with- out leaving to the Guifes the time to augment ^ their credit and their forces, they mould fly to
arms as the remedy the rnoft expeditious and the ^moll; efficacious.
"In vain," faid they, "mall we, wait for the King, of his own motion, to determine, to reftore us the rank which is our ri^ht. This Prince,
O •*
incapable of deciding for himfelf, will never come out of that lethargy, in which he has been flupified from his infancy. Governed by his mother and the Guifes, he will never dare to re- demand the power which he has fo blindly aban- doned to them. How can the juft complaints of the Princes of the blood, and the nobles, the bell affeclioned to the welfare of the flate, ever reach
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. i 15
the ear of a monarch, who, even in the fervice of his perfon, is conftantly furrounded with fpies, ftationedby hisTninifters, and fold to their tyran- ny ? What dependance can we have, on the re- folutions of a Prince, to whom they will reprefent our requifitions under the blacks ft colours, and the odious appellations of revolts, confpiracies, and plots ? Can we hope that the Queen mother and the Guifes will difmifs themfelves, in favor o£ their enemies and rivals, from a part of that power which has coft them fo much labor and ib many artifices ? This expectation would be more chimerical than the former. Men do not weakly abandon an authority, which they have once ufurped with, fo much boldnefs. "Whoever ar- rives, by flow and fecret intrigues, to unlawful power, enjoys it haughtily, and preferves it at all^ura -nc^at Jib* hazards. The power and authority of the laws, /A£*, may impofe on private perfons ; but they give^A; way to force, which alone decides the rights and^^^/i 6 interefts of Princes, So much referve and timidi- tv on our part, will only ferve to augment the
r- i C • T- U 0
confidence and temerity or our enemies, io be- gin by complaining, would be to found an alarm before an attack, and to advertife our competi- tors to put themfelves on their guard. The promptitude of execution, alone decides the fue- cefs of great enterprizes. Sloth and irrefolution, debafes the courage, enervates the forces, and lofes the opportunity which flies fo rapidly away. Let us haften then to take arms, and overwhelm our enemies before they have time to collect themfelves ; and let us not ruin our own hopes and projects, by cowardly precautions, and un-
feafonable delays,"
The
u6 DISCOURSES ON DAVlLA.
The King of Navarre, the Admiral, the Prince of Portien and the Secretary of the Conftable, in the name of his mafter, rejected with horror, counfels fo extreme, and propufed remedies lefs violent. " Whatever protections we may make," they replied, " that we take arms only to deliver the King from the tyranny of ftrangers, and that we afpire not to his authority, our conduct will be ill interpreted. All good Frenchmen, religi- oufly attached to the perfcn of the King., will lee our enterprize with indignation. Is it permited to fubjects to lay violence or constraint on their fovereign, under any pretext or for any reafon whatever ? Do the laws of the kingdom authorize us, to force our mafter, to confide to- us, any portion of his authority ? He has pafled his four- teenth year, and ought no longer to be in tute- lage. Thus our pretenlions, formed only on de- cency, propriety and iimple equity, had better be urged with delicacy and moderation, than by ways fo violent as thofe of arms. By employing the means which prudence and addrefs may fug- geft to us, let us not defpair of gaining on the in- clinations of the Queen mother. As foon as flic can fee her fafety in our party, we fhall fee the power of the Guifes difTolve, and we mail open to ourfelves a way, equally honorable and eafy to the execution of our defigns. The Princes of Lorrain have had, hitherto, no obftacle in their way ; perhaps when they fee a formidable oppo- fition arifing, they will determine to cede to. us a, part in the government. We will then avail our- felves of opportunities, to fecure us againft the dangers which threaten us, and the outrages with which they overbear us. Is it not better to be
fatisfied
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. n?
fatisfied with reafonable conditions, than to ex-
pofc all to the inconftancy of fortune, and the
hazardous decifion of arms ? Have \ve in France,
forces to oppoie to our lawful fovereign ? What
fuccour can \ve expect from foreign powers, who
have lately renewed their alliances with the King ?
To take arms at prefent, would be to precipitate
the houfe of Bourbon into the deepeft misfor*
tunes, rather than to open to us, an honorable
reception into the government." This laft fenti-
ment prevailed, and it was refolved that the , • /
King of Navarre, as the chief of the houfe, and^^^^r^c "*-
the firft Prince of the blood, Ihould repair tofouiul fit
Court, and negotiate with the Queen mother,
and endeavor to obtain fome part in the admini-
ftration of government, for himfelf, and for his
brothers and partisans, the governments and
dignities of which they had been deprived, or
others equivalent.
It was forefeen, however, that the fuccefs would not be happy. The King of Navarre, in- J* timidatecl by the difficulty of the enterprize, acted with a delicacy, irrefolution and complai- fance, dictated by that foftnefs and moderation which formed the effence of his character. The Guifes, on the contrary, full of that confidence, which profperity infpires, prepared to repell with vigor the attempt that was made againft them. In concert with the Queen, they repeated incef- fantly to the young Monarch, that his predeceff- ors had always mortified the Princes of the blood, J^Y^<M> cd TKt. as enemies to the reigning branch, againft which they never ceafed to operate, fometimes by fecret '
11 j r ' i_ 'i-U ^ ' 6*ttf «
cabals, and fometimes by open force, inat m T^^ J, the prefent circumftanccs, the King of Navarre' ";
and
, u ty-l / J
irS DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
and the Prince de Conde, feeing themfelves fo near the throne, under a King of a tender com- plexion, who had no children, and whofe bro- thers were under age, fought only to deprive him of the fupport of his mother, and his neareft relations, that they might govern him at plea- lure, and hold him in dcpendance, as the Maires of the Palace had formerly held the Clevis's, the Chiiperics, and other Princes incapable of reign- ing. That perhaps there was no crime at which they would hefitate, even to employing poifon, or the fvvord, to open a paffage for themfelves to the throne. The King, naturally timid and fufpicious, pre-occupied by thefe artificial accufa- tions, which were coloured with fome appearance of probability, fcw with an evil eye, the King of JNavarre, and received him coldly. In the audi- ences which he granted him, always in the pre- fence of the Duke and the Cardinal, who never quitted him a moment, he gave him none but dry anfwers ; alkdging that he was of age ; that ke wag not refp0nfmie to any man for his actions ; that he was fatisfied with the good fervices of thofe who governed under him ; and rejected conftantly all the requefts and demands of the Princes of the blood, as irregular, unreafonable, and made with ill defigns.
The efforts of the King of Navarre had no bet- ter fuccefs with the Queen-mother. She knew that me could not depend upon the attachment which the Princes of the blood profeffed to her ; that as foon as they mould obtain what they fo- liated, they would exclude her from the govern- ment, and force her perhaps to quit the Court. She judged moreover, that it would be impru-
dent
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. ITJ
dent to abandon the party the moil powerful and the bell efhbliflied, to attach herfelf to the Princes of the blood, who had no certain iup- port. She determined therefore to purfue her iiril plan : but as flic wifhcd to prevent the hor- rors of a civil war, flie propofed to herfelf, not entirely to take away all hopes from the Princes, but to make ufe of artifice and diflimulation, to divert the King of Navarre, whofe docility {he knew, from the defigns which he had formed, and to wait, from time and conjunctures, fome expedient, advantageous to the welfare of the flate. In confequence, {he received him with great demonitrations of friendihip, and amufed him with the faireil hopes. In the courfe conversations which they had together, {lie in- fmuated, that the pailions of the King were eafily irritable ; that he mud not be vexed with de- mands and complaints out of feafon ; that it was neceffary to wait for opportunities more favor- able ; that the King having paffed his fourteenth. year, might govern by hinifelf, and without taking counfel of any one ; that when he mould find an opportunity to manifeil his benevolence for the Princes of Bourbon, -he would fulfil all that was required of him, by the relations of blood, and would prove to all the world the efteem and confideration, which he entertained of their merit and fidelity : that to change, all at once, in the beginning of a reign, the order eftab- limed in the government, would be to give the King among his own fubjecls, the reputation of an inconflant Prince, wichout prudence and with- out firmnefs : that if any employment worthy of them iliould be vacant, he would have a re-
gard
123 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
gard to the juftice of their pretenfions : that, in her own particular, flie offered herfelf voluntarily to manage thtir interefts with her fon, to engage him to grant them, as foon as fhould be pofiible, the fatibfaction they defired : that it was not de- cent that" the King of Navarre, who had always evinced his wifdoin and moderation, (hould now fuffer himfelf to be guided by counfels, and drawn into rafh rneafures which were neither confident with his age nor character ; but by waiting with patience, for what depended wholly on the benevolence and affection of the Ring, he ought to teach others, how to merit in their due feafons, the favor and beneficence of his Ma- jefty. The Queen having founded him, at feve- ral times, by fuch general difcourfes, and per- ceiving that he began to waver, compleatly gain- ed him at length, by faying that they muft im- mediately fend into Spain, Elizabeth, the fifter of the King, who muft be attended by fome Prince, diitinguiilied by his reputation and by his rank ; that me had caft her eyes on him, as the perfon- age the moft proper to fupport the honor of the nation, by the fplendor of his virtues, and of the Majeily Royal, with which he was adorned ; that befides the fatisfacHon which the King her fon would have in it, he would find a great advan- tage for his private pretenfions, by the facility which he would have, of conciliating the affec- tions of the Catholic King, and at the fame time of treating in perfon of the reftitution, or of the change of Navarre. Finally, fhe promifed him to employ all her credit, and all the power of the King her ion, to infure the fuccefs of this
negotiation.
The
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. .121
The King of Navarre, in examining the d\f po;;;i ?,ns -of the Court, hud obierved that all vvh-;' .vcrc employed by the government, •khthe prefent lituation of affairs, trou- ble i .-cry li oout the pretenlions o- :-.Uc:.5 of the blood — and that thole who had :in intereiito d-jlire 'his grandeur, : and that of his brother, either intimidated by the power •of th-Tir enemies, or difconcerted by his -extreme delayj, del; rtped equally of the fuccefs of his en- te- . He; returned therefore e-afily to his fc -r> firft d-%n j£ recovering I&fe Hates, and judged '• >^' that he ought not to let iiip an opportunity fo favourable tor renewing the negotiations of ac- commodation with the crown of Spain, and of qui.r i^g decently a court, wh?re he could no-lon- ger reniLiin with honor. lie accepted chearfully the comniiiiion of concluding the young;Queen into Spain. The Q^ieen-rnother continued to delude him \vith magnificent hopes, and in fpight of the difcontent of the other Princes of his par- ty,'tie pro-led his departure with as 'much ardor, as even his enemies could have desired. Ke fuf- fered1 hiinfelf to be di^ped-in Spain with the fame fa.-iiity. The Queen-mother had already in- formed rhilin the fccond,of all this manoeuvre. This Monarch who deli-red, equally -with her, to fee humiliated and excluded from the govern- ment, the King of Navarre, fo ardent to -make good his pretenilons to foine part of his domin- ions, inftructed the duke of Alva, and the other grandees who wore to receive the Queen his con- lort, not to reject the proportions of this Prince, but to lead him on and amufe him, by receiving them ierioufly, and offering to make report of them to his Catholic Majeity, and the council of Spain, without whofe advice they cauld not de- Q t ermine
122 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
termine any affair of ftate. As loon as the King of Navarre was arrived on the frontiers, and had prefented the Queen Elizabeth to the bpanifli Lords, he began tofpeak to them of his interefts, and thought him (elf fure at firft of fuccefs. The Spaniards conducted the negotiation, with an ad- drefs which ferved to nourifh his hopes., at the fame time that they let him know that the effect could not be immediate. They engaged him even to fend ambaffadors to Madrid, fo that fole- naw could. Ju(A \y occupied with his firft defigns, he retired to a-J&^-i (>t.jJ: Bearn, fully refolved not to meddle in the affairs +-*3& « •>*«- of Franco, whole negotiation appeared ineffectual, and the project of arms as dangerous as they were diihonorahle.
. r The Frince of Conde his brother, had cppofite
views, ard took very different refolutions. His fortune was not commenfurate with his courage, nor with the extent of his dciigns. Excited by the mediocrity of his circumftances, by the ha- tred which he bore to the Guifes, and inceffantly itimulated by his mother-in-law and his wife, one the lifter and the other the niece of the Con- . VflrfjuV. Itable, both devoured by ambition, he openly detefted the government of the Queen-mother and the Guifes. All his thoughts and actions tended to a revolution. He figured to himfelf, that if the war fhould be enkindled by his in- trigues and for his interefts, not only he would become the chief of a numerous party, but more- over he would procure to himfelf riches, advan- tages, and perhaps the fovereignty of feveral cities and provinces of the Kingdom. Full of I *»Y thefe high ideas he afiembled again at La Ferte,
an eftate of his inheritance, fituated on the fron- tiers of Champaine, the Princes of his blood, and the principal lords of his party, and harrangued
them
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 723
lliem in this manner. " In vain, have we hither- ^f-»^c to employed the means of delicacy and modera- tion. It is not hereafter but by the moft vigor- ous efforts that we can prevent the ruin of the roval fainilv, and of all thofe who have not been
* ^ '
able to refolve to cringe fcrvilcly under the ty- ranny of the Queen-mother and the Guifes. It is no longer feafonable to diffemble outrages of which no man can be ignorant, and which we have fuffered with too much patience. We are banidied from court, and the government of Pi- cardy, and the office of grand-mailer is taken from us. Finances, offices, dignities, are the prey of foreigners and perfons unknown, who hold the King in captivity. The truth never reaches the throne. The beft part of the nation is oppreffed to elevate traitors, who fatten on the blood of the people, and the treafures of the flate. It is on violence that the tyranny of thefe flran- gers, is founded, who perfecute with fo much ferocity the royal blood : let us employ violence alfo to deftroy this tyranny. It will not be the firft time that the Princes of the blood, mall have taken arms to maintain their rights. Peter, Duke of Brittany, Robert, Earl of Dreux, and feveral other Lords oppofed, during the minority of Saint Louis, the Queen Blanche his mother, who had feized on the government. Philip, Earl of Valois, employed all his forces, to exclude from the regency, thofe who pretended to ufurp it. Under Charles the VHIth, Louis, Duke of Orleans, took arms to caufehimfelf to be elected regent, inftead of Ann, Duchefs of Bourbon, who, in quality of eldefl filler of the young King, had taken into her hands the reins of the ftate. Let us imitate our wife anceftors, let us follow fuch ftriking examples. We find ourfelves in the
fame
DISCOURSED ON DAV1LA.
fame cafe : it is therefore our. duty to employ the fame means to fave the nation. Let not the ...3- parent pleafure of the King reftrain ii&J -is Prince, buried in a lethargic dream, ana in his. own imbecility, perceives not the deplorable flavery to which they have reduced h\m. rle: waits, from the Princes of the blood, the afl fa ance, which is expected from an enlightened ^r.di ikilful phyfician, by patients who tc?i nor L.'eiy diftempers and know rot their dan.: he
duties of our birth, and the unanimo.uJ? v. i&cd ,* -ft of the nation, authorize us to break the feLters , ' ^ with which this Prince is leaded, and to redrefs * ij*' the evil before it arrives at its laft extremity. A ' vigorous refolution mutt be taken without, deiny. Let us haflen to be beforehand with o-.;r er.en.ies, if we wifn to furmount a thoufand obltacks, which will arrefl us, if we wafle the tinne in de- liberation, and which a luciden execution .alone can overcome, fiotli and timidity will only aggra- vate upon our necks ths weight of a yoke equally fliameful and fatal. Caai we hefitate when our tranquility, our honor and our lives have no Other refource, than in the valor, of our arms ?" This difcourie pronounced, with a- military tone, had already agitated minds before difpofed to take arms, both from attachment to his houfe, (oti ft**- and tlieir Frivate intercfts. ' But the Admiral, Coligni, who weaned more maturely all the confequences of iuch an enterprize, alone ven- tured to oppofe the opinion of the Prince, by ad- vifing to employ in the execution of his delign> a mean more proper to enfure the fuccefs of it. " It would be,'* faid Coiigni, " too defperate a refolution to expofe fo openly to the hazards of war, the fortunes of the houfe of Bourbon, and of fo great a number of ^perfons allied to their
blood.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 125
Mood, or attached! to fchdr ip.tcrefh. YTc not fupported byanyiorccs at home, or all'ances ajbsqad We have no fortified places, and are without trceps, and wlthou.t money. In the impolubility to act \v>_h open force-, let us fub- fiuute policy in the of fore;. Ictus en-
deavor,/without diicoverir . felves, to employ other arms, to execute for us, what -ve are not HI a ccrdiiicn to undertake fw ourfclves. The kingdom is filled; with a multitude of people, who have emiy:.;r.c i t'be doctdne lately introduced by Calvin. ri'ne feverky of the refearch.es. made for them, and tlie- rigour of their pur.iiiimcnts, £,Y6rr*.-MfU{j *£* reduce them to clrOair,. and to the clciire as well^/'*' **^^ as' neceiiity of braving every danger to refcue-^"*; /**<** . ~p themfeives from a deiii.ny fo horrible. They all***^ ***** *"** know, that the diike of Guife, and eipecially the &"f**»»« Cardinal of Lorrain, are the principal authors of oh! &l&')1* the peri jciition ; that: this tuft • puriues. ardently */ t ofi{n* &t tlijir ..;11-33, in the. Parliaments and in the ' .
King's council^, and never ceafes to ial.l at their ^**/ cjoctrines, in his public h^rrr-1 T^CS and private *»» ****•
v_^ * .
converfations. If ihe difcoD.t'ents of this multi-^Vy^«4 tude have not blazed out, it has been merely for//^ want of a leader ^eatp/ib'e of: guiding it, and of ani- mating it, by Ms example. Lrcliey ihouklbefti- mulated ever fo little, they will blindly confront the greateft dangers, in the hope of delivering themfeives from the misfortunes which threaten them. , Let us avail ourfelves of this refource ; ; ,. ,. let us encourage this multitude, already difpofed to commotions ; let us give a form to th'eir de- figns ; let us arm their hitred againft the Guifes ; let us put them in a condition to attack thefe Grangers,; in good order and with advantage. Our defigns, in this way, will execute themfeives, without expofmg or committing us, without our .-'• » •• . appealing
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
appearing to have any part in them. In aug* menting our forces with all thofe of the Calvin- ifts, we fhall fupport ourfelves by the protection of the Proteftant Princes of Germany, and o£ Elizabeth Queen of England, who patronize openly the new religion. Our caufe will become better and our pretext more plaufible. We will reject upon the Proteftants the boldnefs of their cnterprize, and we mall convince the whole world, that it is neither intereft nor ambition, , but fimply the difference in religion which has excited us to arms.'*
It mould be remembered here, that Davila was a Catholic, and Coligni a Proteftant. The latter, one of the great eft, altho the moil unfortunate men of his age, was as fincere in religion, as pure in morals, and as honourable in the whole con- duel of his life, as any one of his contemporaries. • That he was deiirous of engaging the Bourbons and Montmorencies to favor the C alvinifts and liberty of confcience, is probable : but he is re- prefented by the beft French Hiftorians, as fo » much attached to the King, as to have been even fufpetted by his party. The harrangue which Davila puts into his mouth, is too much like a mere politician, and too little like a philofopher or a chriftian, to be confiflent with his character.
No
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DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. No. 19.
Mais 1'un etl'autre Guife ont eu moins de fcrupule,^ Ces chefs ambitieux d'un peuple trop credule, Couvrant leurs interets de 1'inteict des cieux, Ont condait dans le piege un peuple furieux.
THE eloquence and authority of Coligni, pre- vailed with the others to embrace the party of the Cjlvinifts, to whofe doctrines, were fecretly devoted feveral of the noblemen then prefent in the affembly. The common voice was in favor cf this advice, which affording hopes, as near accomplimment, and better founded, diverted them from taking arms of a fudden, and con- cealed for fometime, the view of dangers, to which the moft determined do not expoie them- felves,but in the lafl extremity.
After Martin Luther had introduced into Ger- o/t<,Mcv many, the liberty of thinking in matters of reli- gion, and erected the ftandard of reformation; „ . John Calvin, a native of Noyon, in Picardy, of a (^CLiuin^ if vaft genius, iingulareloquence, various erudition,v/%/^n I* and polimed tafte, embraced the caufe of refor- ** , mation. In the books which he publiflied, and in the difcourfes which he held, in the feveral cities of France, he propofed one hundred and twenly eight articles, in oppofition to the Creed 7, • J • of the Roman Catholic Church. Thefe opinions were foon embraced with ardor and maintained with obftinacy, by a great number of perfons of all conditions. The afylum and the centre of this new feet, was Geneva, a city fituated on the lake anciently called Lamanus, on the frontiers of Savoy, which had fhaken off the yoke of its Bilhops and the Dukes of Savoy, and erected it-
felf
T28 DISCOURSES ON DAVIlA.
republic, under the tide of a free city, for the fake of Hbcity- of conscience. From this
•»<*
\J *. if *
there fowed in iecret the feeds of their doctrine. Almcfta, L[ -s and provinces of France be-
»/ r* - *• T * *
.y,^ gan to be enlightened by it. It began to intro- .y«if duce itiblr hito^'the kingi /.:::!, und^f Francis lit.
-^ in o; ' Lbri tb ail the vigorous relbiutions wl /• he took to --'•> •->:-/•- •£ ••' s it. Henry 'lid. ordained, 2 v/ith inexorable ibverity. the pyinfltment of death agaii?fi all \vho-fnould be cor^\ icVed of Calvinifm. Tk: Cardinal of Lerri.!;:, \vas -the high piieft, and the proud tyrant, v. ho C-L:U; rjlkd-andicimu- l:u . ; he Kin^» to thei'e ;:"- 01 locutions,
which, by the {bedding jthe biood of -all the ad- vocates of civil liberty, -might' have wholly fup- prelied .it, if the titi&$.p$@ea d?ath cf Henry lid. '* v/hich the Calvinifts regarded as a miracle wrought in their favor, h-.d'r.ot occaiicned ibme relaxation under Francis -lid. The Duke of Gpife and the Cardinal of Lorrain, perliRed in their bloody perfecting refolutions : but they did not find in the Parliament, -nor in the other magiftrates, the fame promptitude to execute^the orders which they gave in the name of the King. Theodore Eeza, adifciple of Calvin, celebrated for his eloquence and erudition . had already con- verted feveral perfons of both fexes, and of the firft nobility of the kingdom : andi': was no lon- ger in the ftables and cellars that the Calvinifts held their affemblies, and preached their fermons, but in thehcrafcs of gentlemen, and in the palaces of the great. The people called them Huguenots, or Aignonen Confederate-. The Admiral Coligni ' and feveral other noblemen, had -indeed embraced
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA; ic?
the new doctrine as it was called : but the Cal- yinifts. retrained by the fear of punifhment, ftill held their allemblies in fccret, and the great dared not declare openly for them.
The Bourbons, finding France in a condition fo favorable to their prefent interefts, embraced greedily the propoiition of Coligni, and they de- puted Dandelot and the Vidame de Chartres to negotiate this affair with the Calvinifts. Thefe able agents, who had both embraced Catvinifm, eafily found a multitude of perfons difpofed to communicate to others the projefb in contempla- tion, and to make the neceflary preparations for its execution. The Calvinifts agitated without interruption by the terror of d mg^rs and puniih- ments, ferved them with fo much promptitude and concert, that they placed things in a train, in a fhort time to fucceed.
The firft meafure advifed by Dandelot and the Vidame de Chartres, was that a large number of thofe who profeffed theProteftant religion, fliould r.ffernble and prefent themfelves without arms at court, to petition the King for liberty of con- fcicnco, the public exercife of their religion, and permiflion to have temples for that purpofe. Davib, the Catholic and Italian, has recorded in this place, all the party exaggerations of his mittrefs and the Guifes. He fays, that if the petition of the Proteftants was feverely and haughtily reject- ed, as it indubitably would be, they were to march immediately troops affembled fecretiy from all the Provinces ; that thefe mould fudden- Jy appear under different leaders who mould be appointed for them, that finding the King un- R guarded
i36 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
guarded and the court without defence, thef were to mafTacre the duke of Guife and the Cardinal of Lorrain, with all their creatures j and oblige the King to declare, regent and lieu- tenant-general of the kingdom, the Prince of Conde, who mould grant them a ceffation of punifhment anxi liberty of confcience. It was believed at the time and publifhed, that the chiefs of the confpiracy, had given fecret orders, if every th^ng fucceeded to their wifties, to put to the fword the Queen-mother, the King him- fclf, and his brothers, that the crown in this way 'might deicend to the Princes of Bourbon. But i)avila hirnfelf acquits them of this attrocious ac- cufation,by adding, that none of the accomplices having avowed this horrible defign, neither when on the rack, nor of their own accord, but all on the .contrary having formally denied it, I cannot 'relate it as a fact. We know very well that fame, aided by the vain terrors of the people, and the malignity of the great, takes a pleafure in magnifying objects to infinity.
The plan being thus concerted among the con- fpirators, they divided the provinces and em- •ployments, among the principal Calvinifts, that the execution might be attended with as much order and fecrecy as poffible. Barri, de la Renau- die ailumed the principal part, and put himfclf
f at the head of the enterprize. This was a perfon
av sVfnjuicLitj , , . *.. , . A TT.
'celebrated for his travels and adventures. His
wit and courage had acquired him credit among the Huguenots. He wanted neither fpirit to un- dertake nor vivacity to execute. The difarrange- ments of his fortune had reduced him to the al- ternative
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 13 z
4.ernative of procuring himfelf a better condition by fome daring attempt, or of terminating his misfortunes by a fudden death. Although inued from the firft nobility of Perigord, he had wan- dered long in different countries, and had at length taken refuge in Geneva, where by his fubtilty he had acquired fome confideration. Such was the birth and character of the princi- pal leader of the confpiracy, who was foon follow- ed by a great number of affociates, fome excited by a zeal for religion, others by the attractions of novelty, and others limply by that natural inqui- etude, which never permits the French to lan- guifh in idlenefs.
La Renaudie confided to the chiefs among them, the care of aiTembling their partizans and conducting them to the rendezvous. The intelli- gence with which he diftributed provinces, intro- duced a kind of order into this confuiion. telneau had the department of Gafcony, that of Beam, Dumefnil that of Limoiin, beau that of Saintonge, Coueville, Picardy j Mourans, Provence ; Maligni, Champaine ; Saint- Marie, Normandy ; and Montejean, Brittany : all famous for courage, diflinguiihed by their no- bility, and coniidered in their cities and cantons, as heads of the party. Thefe factionaries, after having ailembled at Nantes, a city of Brittany, fome under the pretext of a lawfuit, and others under that of a marriage, repaired with great diligence to the polls which were afllgned them. In a few days, and with admirable fecrecy, they there gained an infinite number of perfons of all conditions, ready to facrifice their lives for an cnterprize, which their preachers affured them
tended
jj2 DISCOURSES ON DA VILA.
tended to the advantage and tranquility of the flate.
f ^e ^rmce °^ Conde, who fecretly lighted up
this conflagration, advanced by moderate days journeys to court. He wifhed to be \vitnefs of the event, and to take fuddenly, according to circumflances, the part which fhould appear to him the moft advantageous. The Admiral, al-
O '
ways circumfpecl, feigned to remain neuter. Pie retired to his cftate at Chatillon, under the pretext of enjoying the fweets of private life, without meddling with affairs of the public, or of government ; but in reality it was as much to aid the confpiracy, by his councils and infor- mation, as to avoid the accidents which might defeat an enterprize which he judged ralh and dangerous. The confpirators, who were not agitated with limilar anxieties, but full of the moft flattering hopes, had begun their march in fecrecy, carrying their arms concealed under their cloaths. They advanced feparately by dif- ferent roads, and in the order which had been <*/' marked out by their chiefs, towards Blois, wheie
the court refided at that time. This city was open on all fides, and without fortifications, and the confpirators were to meet in its fuburbs, on the fifteenth day of March, 1560.
But whatever might be the activity of their proceedings and the fecrecy of their councils, they could not efcape the penetration of the Guifes. The favors, penfions and employments they confered, and their great reputation, had attached to them fo many creatures in the dif- ferent provinces of the kingdom, that they were punctually informed of all the movements of the eonfpiratgrs. It was indeed iinpoilible that the
marck
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 133
march of ib numerous a multitude could remain unknown, when conipiracics whole fecrets arc confined to a fmall number of perfons, of the moil consummate difcretion and iidelity, are al-
• *
moft always difcovered before their execution. Whether the fecret was difcovercd by La Renau- die, or A vent-lies, or difcovercd by the fpies em- ployed by the miniftry, even in the houfes of the principal confpirators, or whether information of it came from Germany ; as foon as the Guifcs had received it, they deliberated on the means of defeating it.
The Cardinal of Lorrain, who was no foldier, advifed to aiTemble the nobility of the neareft provinces, to draw from the neighbouring cities all the garrifons to form a body of troops, and to fend orders to ail the commanders and govern- ors to take the field, and put to the fword, all the men whom they mould find in arms. He prefumed that the conlpirators, perceiving them- felvcs to be difcovered, and informed of the mea- fures taken ag.iinft them, and which fame would not fail to exaggerate, would diflipate of them- felves. The duke of Guife, more familiar witli^C danger, and defpifing the tranfports of a multi- tude, without difcipline or order, regarded the advice of the Cardinal, as more proper to palli- ate the diftemper, than to cure it ; adding that fmce it was fo pernicious, and had infinuated it- felf into the heart of the kingdom, it was ufelefs to temporize, and give it opportunity to break out with more violence. -He thought it there- fore, more prudent to diilemble, and affect igno- rance of the enterprize, to draw in the confpira- tors, and give them time to difcover themfelves ; that in fmch a cafe, their defeat and puniiliment
would
134 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
would deliver France from a fatal contagion, which, as it difcovered itfelf by fymptoms fo ter- rible, demanded violent remedies, and not fim- ple lenitives. He added, that in punifhing fepa- rately only a part of the confpirators, they Ihould furnifh matter to the ill intentioned, to calumni- ate the authors of this feverity ; that the people3 little accuftomed to fuch infurreclions, would re- gard this as a chimera, and as a fable, invented by the miniftry to cruih their enemies, and efta- blifli their own power and authority : whereas, by overwhelming all the confpirators at once, when upon the point of execution, they fhould diffipate all falfe accufations, and juftify in the fight of all the world, the rectitude and the fin- cerity of the intentions of thole who were at the head of affairs,
Catharine agreed with the duke. No extraor- +n'/i dinary preparation was made, which could ex- cite a fufpicion that the confpiracy was known. They only removed the King and the court to A r*b*il</ Ambolfe ten leagues from Blois. This caftle, fitu- ated on the Loire, and in the midft of forefts which fortify it, naturally, appeared to be a fafer afylum : as it was eafy to place in fecurity the King and the two Queens, in the caftle, while a fmall number of troops mould defend the en- trance of the village, which was of difficult accefs.
Eagle eyed, high foul'd ambition, feldom mifles its opportunity. The Guifes refolved to profit of a conjuncture fo advantageous to cement and increafe their power, by caufmg the fall of their rivals to promote their own elevation, as poifons are fometimes, by uncommon Ikill converted into remedies. They entered the King's apartments, without the knowledge of the Queen, affecting
with
DISCOURSES ON DAVlLA.
\vith terror to exaggerate the danger ; they de- clared all was reported to be plotted againft the government, his moft faithful fubjects, and his royal perfon. They rcmonftrated to him, that the danger was imminent, that the confpirators were already at the gates of Amboife, with forces much more formidable and numerous than had been fufpected. Finally they demand- ed orders, the promptitude and energy of which mould be proportioned to the grandeur and proximity of the danger. The King, naturally timid as well as weak, and at this moment forci- bly flricken with the greatnefs of the danger* which threatened him, ordered the Queen, and all his minifters to be called, to coniult on the means proper to reprefs the impetuofity of fo violent a rebellion. Nothing was feen on all fides but fubjecls of terror : Every meafure that was propofed appeared hazardous. The Cardi- nal of Lorrain exhaufted ail his artifices and all his eloquence to exaggerate the danger and ii> creafe the irrefolution. The king incapable of deciding, and of fuftaining the weight of govern- ment in circumftanccs fo critical, nominated, of his own mere motion, the Duke of Guife, his Lieutenant General, with full and compleat thority. He added, that not feeling himfelf ade- quate to act, he abandoned to the prudence and valor of the Duke, the conduct of his kingdom, and the care of appeafing the troubles which agi- tated it.
Catharine, although me felt an indignation at
o o
this bold attempt, could not oppofe it, without an open rupture with the Guiles, in a moment when the fafety of the State depended on their union. She perceived the occafion there was for
a Chief,
»3-' DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
a Chief, \vhofe experience and reputation might lake place of the imbecility and irrefolution of the king, as likely to enervate the courage of hi* own troops, as to increafe the infolence of his enemies. Monarchs the moft abfolute, and even republics the moft jealous of their liberty, had of- ten conferred the fupreme authority on a {ingle man, v/hen the greatnefs of dangers had appeared to require a resource fo extraordinary. Betides- thcfe views, which regarded the prefervation of her fon and his States, fne forefaw the carnage, which could not fail to be made, and that the hatred of the Princes of the blood, and the en- mity of the people would fall neceilarily on the Duke of Guile commanding alone, with an abfo- lute authority.
/
Q&vt&l The integrity of the Chancellor Olivier, was full an obftacle ; little fatisfied that an authority fo unlimited mould be granted to a fubject, he appeared to fufpencl his judgment. His credit and firmnefs might have prolonged, if not defeat- ed the meafure. The C)ueen-mother however determined him, by alledging, that as foon as the ftorm mould be diiTipated. they might reftrain by .£ new edicts and freili declarations the excefiive power to be given to the Duke, and confine him within the bounds of duty and rcafon ; that it- was the intereft of all, that the eflufion of blood mould be done by the fole orders of the Duke, and that neither the King, his relations, or mi- niftcrs, mould appear to dip their hands- in it. The Chancellor perfuaded by thefe reflections, fcalcd the commifiion, giving to the Duke at Guhre the title and authority of Lieutenant Gen- eral of the King, in all the provinces and territo- ries of his obedience, with abfolute power, as well in civil as military affairs.
The
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 137
The Duke as foon as he had obtained the dig- nity and authority which he had always defired, turned his attention to fupprels the confpiracy. He made able and foldierlike arrangements for defending the caftle and village of Amboife, and fent out parties of cavalry as well as infantry to attack the infurgents. A detail of their fkirmifh- es would be as little interefting, as it would be to the purpofe we have in view. La Renaudie fought with a bravery which well became the Proteftant caufe, and fell with Pardaillan, his an- tagonift, in the combat — though his foldiers col- leded in hafte, could not (land ao;ainft veteran
- / * J f
troops. A Capt. Ligniers, one of the confpira-«''^>Ut/^Cc6^'u-5!^/' tors, terrified at the greatnefs of the danger, in ct^d. a. the moment of execution, or ftricken with re- morfe, or defirous of making his court, abandon- ed his accomplices, and galloped by another road to Amboife. He detailed to the King and Queen, the quality ancl number of the confpirators, the names of their chiefs, and the roads by which they were approaching, The Prince de Conde was immediately put under guard, by order of the king, to hinder him in any manner from favoring the enterprize of the infurgents, as he promifed them. The confpirators in fine were defeated and difperfed. Some perilhcd in th flames of the houfes to which they fled — others^ were hanged upon the trees in the neighbour- hood, or on the battlements of the caftle. Mul- titudes were maflacrcd in the neighbourhood of Amboife ; the Loire was covered with dead bodies — the blood run in ftreams in the ftreet — and the public places were filled with bodies hanging on gallowfles. The punimmcnt of thefe mifdable men, tormented by the foldiers, and
s butchered
138 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
butchered by executioners — fcverities, which the Guifes, thought necefiary, became the fource of carnage, and of rivers of blood, which deluged France for many years in a moft tragical and de- plorable manner.
No. 20.
Faible enfant, qui de Guife adoiait les caprices
,
Et dont on ignorait les vertus et les vices.
ALTHOUGH the infurgents were difperfed, and their leaders executed, the Bourbons and the other grandees of their party., the fecret authors of the confpiracy, ftill lived. The council of the King, in examining into the motives of the late troubles, agreed without difficulty, that they one c^were the work of the Princes of the blood ; and Hie 3 <&v£o that, to maintain the authority of the King and ,.,-«. tf£- t^ie Miniftry, the only fure means would be to i<x/rzA*V**/a-r*d themfelves of the chiefs and authors of the j fl confpiracy, as perturbators of the public repofe,
, as favorers of Herefy, and as rebels, who attempt- kw^ing the perfon of their fovereign, had violated oj /i«, -fcUttAt the fundamental laws of the monarchy. But the fifth i^\ Jovj^Princes ot the blood, were too nearly on a level '/ 'with the Kinsj : they had too much influence
a~*<i uU tHL^ -11 °i i i i i
. /•> A- Wlth the people ; they had too much power
"••in the {late. The King indeed was furious, ftanaJkf(fh-*rhfa>'thR Queen-mother was anxious, the Guifes a- v <3>i(dH* ^ra^ °f looting their power : But the Conftable Montmorcnci, the Kinsr of Navarre', and the
Prince
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
Prince dc Conde', all (uppoled to be at the bottom of the evil, had fo much confequence in the world, that nothing but dillimulaiton and irrefo-
o
lution prevailed in the cabinet.
The Council, after difguiiing under a veil deep diflimulation, its real dciign, refo'ved at*/* length, to convoke the affembly of the States ncral, in whom j\fi~l:s the whole authority of Kingdom. Two reafons determined them : frft, That to execute the important refolution of the Kin^- a-Tiinil the Princes of his blood, it would
i_ °- °, , • r ILL • ft Slit *.
be u: jrul to have it confirmed, by the unanimous, J
1-1 r c i -O
or at leaft the apparent content of the nation.^ The feccnd reafon was, that by declaring tluy meant to deliberate in this affembly on meafures neceffary to compofe the prefent bles, to regulate the affairs of religion, and to adjuft the adminiftration of the ftate., for the fu.-At /A/*3. ture. the King would have a plaulible pretext, to^^ ZV fummon about his perfon, all the Princes of the food, and all the officers of the crown, without
. . , , , , , , ,
giving them umbrage ; and that they would be inexcufable nor. to come, lince they were promif- ed, that the deliberations mould be concerning a$#L-/#*^>« I* •*/***+*.
reformation of government, which they appeared fo much to dedVe. Kings, fays Davila, never fee 101 th plea Cure, or indeed voluntarily, thefe affcmblies
r i * o " n 11 *i -i r
of the states General, where their authority Jcems to
be eclipfed., by the fovcrci^n power of the nation, whofey* > **
deputies reprefeni'the whole body. /Af &„&„ ,//£ ^'
TT !.• rr «.t- T? i •*. - ~"aQc->*.i tf^ic
Upon this patlage, the iHrencli writers cry out, / /y>rr
r .,, . r i r i "-"^ ^ot J'OT
" It is a itranger who Ipeaks, ill informed of the fundamental conftitution of our monarchy." " This Italian imagines that the royal authority was fufpended, during th.i feflion of the States General, But it was the royal authority which
called
140 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
called them together : without it, they could not have affembled ; and the fame authority had a right to difmifs them at its preafure : it is therefore evident that their power was always fubordinate to that of the Monarch." But this confequence does not follow. The royal au- thority in England, has the power of convoking, proroguing and difiblving Parliament : yet Par- liament is not fubordinate to the royal authority, but fuperior to it ; as the whole is fuperior to a third part. The fovereignty is in Parliament, or the legiflative power ; not in the King, or the Executive. So the fovereignty might be in the States General, comprehending the King. If there are " twenty examples of the States Gene- ral convening and feparating, by the fimple or- ders of the King ;" if " the Dauphin, Charles Vth, during the detention of King John his father, convoked feveral times the States General, and difmiffed them when he judged proper/', it: will not follow from all this, that the States were not a part of the fovereignty : nor will it follow that they had no authority but to advife and remon- ilrate. " If the fentiments of the Italian author were true/* add thefe writers, " it would follow that the authority of Parliaments and courts or companies, wrhofe power is nothing but an ema- nation from the royal authority, would be fuf- pended, during the feflioo of tlje States General ; a pretenfion abfolutely contrary to the ufages and maxims of the kingdom." But how does it ap- pear, that the power of the Parliaments and courts or companies, were emanations of the royal authority ? There is more probability that they were originally committees of the States General, and in that cafe their power would not
be
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 141
fhfpended, unlefs it were exprcfsly fufpended by a refolution or order of the Hates. But if theie tribunals were only a part of theexecutive power, and conftituted by the King-, it would not follow
/ O'
from this conceilion, that the States General were no part of the fovereignty or legiflative power. Is there one national act upon record, which acknowledges the King; of France to bean
O O
unlimited fovcreign ? If there is not, the opinion of Davila appears to be better founded, than that of his Critick. There was always a rivalry be- tween the royal authority and that of the States, as there is now between the power oi the Kin and that of the National Afiembly, and as there*?/ /)&'</. ever was, and will be in every leeriflature or fbve-*/ /,
« O Ifotlfi.rf fh fff^ttffA.
reignty which confifts of two branches oniy.^ The proper remedy then would have been tt fame as it muft be now, to new model the legilla-' ture, make it confifl of three equiponderant in-c dependent branches, and make the executive power one of them ; in this way, and in no'c other, can an equilibrium be formed, the only* antidote againft rivalries. The rivalry between u^t the Kings and States General in France, proceed- /y ed in the ftruggle for fuperiority, till the power ^-^ 3 of the former incrcafmg and that of the latter^ ^liminiming, the States General were laid afide^v* 6~<7>i after 1614, and the crown on the head of Lewis Hff^.i< XlVth, in fact, but not of right, became abfolute:^ ^ in the fame manner as the rivalry between tlie^ Popes and general councils proceeded, till the* latter were difcontinued and his Holinefs became**1 ^^ritfn infallible : In fliort, every man, and every body***^ eu a^ of men, is and has a rival. When the ftruggle is'^/r^n ,?a™*f only between two, whether individuals or bodies,^ it continues till one is fwallowed up, or ^nnihila- •
tcd,rtjf
ZX-ttLt&LH, Jutifvf un tfrl J anjK't^t'S
*~.
*
142 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
ted, and the other becomes abfolute m after. As ail this is a neeeffary conlcquence and effect of the emulation which nature has implanted in our bofoms, it is wonderful that mankind have fo long been ignorant of the remedy, when a third party for an umpire, is one fo eafy and obvious. . Francis Hd, in this year, 1560, iffued a pro- clamation concerning the affairs of the nation, ^ and declared that he had refolved to afiemble at ,. . ,, Fontainbleau, all the Princes and the Notables of , ~L i ft k" kingdom, in order to take their advice con-
rrs <* f- . cerning the urgent necemties or the Itate. He
granted to all his fubjects full liberty to come £6^0*44 there in perfon or by deputies, or to fend memo- rials to lay open their grievances, with promife to give them a favorable hearing, and to grant all their requeils as far as equity and reafon would permit.
The real intention of the Guifes at this time, was to take vengeance of their rivals : but to conceal this defign under the moft profound dif- iirnulation, until a favorable moment ihould ar- rive, to carry it into execution. A feries of re- iinement in artifice, was practifed to put ofFtheir guard, the Prince de Ccnde, the Conftable de Montmorenci, the Admiral Coligni, and all the' others of their party: at the lame time that ar- ringements were made in all the Provinces, and troops were afiembled about the court, under commanders who were in its confidence. . . . About this time died the Chancellor Olivier,
0 deftroyed, as was reported, by chagrin at the
cruelties praclifed at Amboilc, and was fucceeded ky'iMichel dcL'Hopital, who united to a profound erudition, a confummate experience in buiinefs. lo.ihow the univeri'al prevalence oi emulation
and
DISCOURSES ONT DAVILA. 14
and rivalry, of jealoufy and envy, not only twccn oppofite parties, but among individuals ni the lame party, it is neceilary to obferve here, that De L'Hopita!, notxvithftasiding his genin.., ib .penetrating and fo fruitful in rciburces, w elevated, with great cliiliculty to this eminent dignity by the Queen-mother, in opposition to the Guiles, who infilled long for Louis de WlQT- villiers. Catharine began to dread the too great elevation of the Guifes, and wiihed to confer this important office on a iubjccb entirely devoted to her intcrefts.
At the affembly of the Notables at Fontain-^"1^^ at blcau. were found the chiefs of both parties, ex- ccpting the Princes of Bourbon, ore ol~ whom, however, the King of Navarre, lent Ins fbcretnrv La Sague. After the cuftornary fpcechcr; of th.* King, Queen, Chancellor, Duke of Guile rind Cardinal de Lorrain, Coligni arofe, approached soo* the King, and prefentecl him a paper, faying that it was a petition of thofe of the reformed religion, who had inftruclecl him to prefent it to his M;i- jefty, founded on the faith of edicts by which he had permitted all his fubjecls to lay open their grievances. He added, that although it was no(: figned by any one, yet if his Majefty ihould oril. r it, one hundred and fifty thoufand men were ready to fubfcribc it. 1 he petition demand . only liberty of confciencc, and to have chii: ' for public worfhip in the cities. The Card de Lorrain, with all that impetuofity, wliic h, the natural vehemence of his temper added to the ar- dor of his fpiritual zeal, and temporal ambition, infpired, called it {editions, infolent, rnih, and heretical: and added, thru if to inti : the
youth of the Kir-g, Coligni liad advanced that it
<J
DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA.
v/ould be figned by one hundred and fifty thou- iknd rebels, lie would be refponfible for a million of good citizens, ready to reprefs the impudence of the factions, and compel rcfpect to the royal authority.
As to the differences of religion, thofe who in- dined to Calvinifm, propofed to demand of the Pope, a free general council, where they might diicufs and decide by common confent, the mat- ters of controverfy : that if the Sovereign Pon- tiiTmould refufe to grant one, the King ought, ui'tcr the example of iome of his wife prccleceflbrs, to affemble a national council. But the Cardinal of'Lorrain, anfwered that there was no occafion for any other council than that which the Pope had already called at Trent, which had already re- prehended and condemned the doctrines of the innovators, oppofed to the Roman church.
As to the confdtution and government of the flute, after an infinity of proportions and difcuf- -:-"ions, fuo'geiled by the vaiiety of interefts, Mont- lueor Marillac, by the fecret order of the Queen, propofed an AfTembly of the States General : and ' the two parties, with one voice confented. The Conftable, the Admiral and their partizans, by the hope of obtaining a change in the rniniftry, the Queen -mother and the Guifes, becaufe they hoped to deftroy their rivals. An edict was ac- cordingly paired at Fontainbleau, for holding the States General, and the fecretaries of ftate ex- pedited letters patents to all the Provinces of the Kingdoaa, with orders to fend, in the month of October, their deputies to Orleans, there to hold
, c *\
the States General.
a. &qm ^a ^aoue to°k the road to l^earn, charged ""with letters and cpmtniffions for the King of
Navarre,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 14$
"Navarre, from the Co nibble, the Admiral and their adherents. At Etampes, he was arrefted tl and all his papers feized, and brought to court, by order or the Queen and the Guiles. La Sague, interrogated on the rack, confeffed, that the de- iign of the Prince of Condc, to which the King of Navarre was privy and confenting, was to march from Bcarn, under pretext of repairing to court, and to make himfelf rnafter in his courfe, of the principal cities of the kingdom, to take pofleilion of Paris by means of the Conftn- ble, and Marfhal Montmorencie his fen, who had the government of it ; to caufe, in the next place to revolt, Picardy, by the intrigues of Sen- arpont and Bouchavannes ; Brittanny, by thofe of the duke D'Eftampes, who, as governor had a powerful party there. He declared that the Prince was in courfe to come to court, at the head of all the forces of the Husronots ; oblisre
O O
the States General to difmifs from the Miniftry, the Queen-mother and the Guifes, to declare that the King cannot be of age, till twenty-two years old, and finally to give him for tutors and regents of the kingdom, the Conftable, the Prince de Conde and the King of Navarre. La Sague added, that by moiftening with water, the cov- ering of the letters of the Viclame de Chartres, they would fee, in writing, all that he had reveal- ed. The Plan of the enemies of the Princes of Lor- rain, was indeed found upon trial, written, upon the cover of the letters of the Vidamede Chartres, .
in the proper hand of Flemin D'Ardoy, fecrctary~%t>*ltn- *" of the Conftable. This revelation of the fecret byJ La Sague, put the court upon a thoufand manceu-J/o&i, Jfl<mt-m<m^ vres, to ftrengthen their party in the Provinces, but Hill they continued to diflemble their defigns T *" of
DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA.
of vengeance : The Proteftants fomewhat en- couraged on one hand by hopes, and Hill torment- ed with perfecutions on the other, broke out in arms in ieveral places : But the Prince de Conde, whofe anxiety muft have been very great for his prefent fafety, if his ambition was not as infati- able, and his natural inquietude as troublefome as is reprefented, made an attempt to feize upon Lyons as a ftrong hold, and an afylurn for himfelf and a place of arms for his party ; but he mif- carried, and many of his partizans, the poor Hugonots, were executed.
As foon as the King was informed of this en- terprize, he refolved not to give the difcontented leiiure to form new ones. He left Fontainbleau, accompanied with a thoufand lances, and two regiments of old infantry, lately returned from Piedmont and Scotland. He took the road to Orleans, preffing the deputies of the Provinces, to repair to that city.
The French nation is divided into threeorders, or ftates, the Clergy, the Nobility, and ths People. Thefe three orders are diftributed into thirty diftri&s or jurifdictions, called BailliageLi • or Senechalfies. "When an aflembly of the States; General is to be held, they refort to the capital', of their refpective Provinces, where they eled: each one feparately a deputy, who aflifts, in the name of his^ order, at the general aflembly, and who enters into all the deliberations relative to the particular interefts of each one of the three orders, and to the general good of the ftate. Kach Bailliage furniflies three deputies, the firft for the Clergy, the fecond for the Nobility, and the third for the People, under the name, which in France was then confidcrecf as more honoura- ble,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. i47
ble, of the third eftate. All thefe deputies afTem- bled in prefcnce of the King, of the Princes of the blood, and of the officers of the crown, form the Hody of the States General, and ad in the name of the nation, whofe power and authority they reprefent.
No. 21.
— My foul aches,
To know, when two authorities are up,
Neither fupreme, how foon confufion
May enter 'twixt the gap of both, and take
The one by the other. SHAKESPEAR.
w
HEN the King is of age, and aiTifts at the States Genera], the deputies had the power to confent to his demands ; to propofe what they judge neceffary for the good of the different or- ders of the ftate ; to make their fubmiilions in the name of the people to new impofts ; to eftab- lifti and accept of new laws, and new regulations j but when the minority of the Prince, or fome other incapacity hinders him to govern by him- felf, the ftates have a right in cafe of conteftation, toelecl the regent of the kingdom, to nominate to the principal offices, to form a council, and, if the mafculine pofterity have failed in the royal family, they may elect a new Monarch, follow- ing however, the difpofitions of the fulique law. Excepting thefe cafes of neceflity, the Kings were accuftomed to affemble the States General, in ur- gent
I48 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
gent conjunctures, and to determine, according to their advice, in affairs of moft importance. " In effect," fays l/avila, " what energy may not the refolutions of the 'Prince derive, from the concurrence of his fubjecls ? What can be more conformable to the true fpirit of monarch- ical government, than this harmony between the fbvereign and the people r" In truth, Davila, 1\ h n<rf ^> tnough tnou art a Profound Fiftoriar, thou art buta'fuperficial Legifla'tor ! Hiftory anfwers the to-ni/>fiw ^"^ueftion, that nc energy at all, nor any thing J0 qrtutaJ/an but divifion, diffraction and extravagance were jh'Lhurki derived to the refolutions of the Prince, till the ,. ftates were laid afide. In the language of my Jjicutd itM >"' motto, two authorities were up, neither fu- rwih.ft'afirn preme, and confufion entered 'twixt the gap. Ih ai Ma- f em Nothing can be more directly repugnant to mo- norchical government than fuch affemblies, be-
fli Ul & &+• TTJ «*•* f i ° r -i 1 ir • J
caufe they let up rivals to the King, and ex- a i/t^-v 5^ cite doubts and queftions, in whom the fovereign- ty refides. If a negative is given by them, to the will of the Prince, they become a part of the fovereignty, annihilate the Monarchy, and con- vert it into a Republic. If they are mere councils of advice, they become fcer.es- of cabal, for af- piring grandees to force themfelves into the mmiilry. — Never indeed was it more neceffary to new model the government, and regenerate the nation, than in the prefent conjuncture, when the rivalries of the grandees, employing as inftru- inents, the differences in religion, disturbed the whole kingdom, and demanded the prompteft remedies.
Upon the reiterated or 'ers of the court, the deputies of tiie Provinces, had reforted to Or- Q #'Y: leans, from the beginning of October 1560, and
•!/ v/ the King havinsj arrived in perfon, accornpanie4 d OJ: by
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. i49
by moft of the Lords and great officers of the crown, they waited only for the difcontented Lords and Princes, to open the Affembly. Conftable and his fons, were, as ufual, at Chan- tilly. The King of Navarre and the Prince of ff Conde, were Itili at Beam. The King had wnt- ten to them all, to invite them to the States ; and altho they bad not explicitly refufed, they invent- ed pretexts upon pretexts, to excufe themfelves, and gain time. Thefe affected delays diftreffed the King and the miniftry. They apprehended, with reafon, that the refuial of the Princes of the - blood, ariiing from their own fufpicions, or upon fome certain information of what was in- tended againfl them, would defeat all the projects and preparations, founded only on the hope that they would affift at the States General. The Prince of Conde, could not be in doubt that they had drawn, either from the prifoners of Amboife, or from La jSague, or from the confpirators ar- refted at Lyons, evidence fufllcient to difcover his defigns. No motive, therefore, could deter- mine him to place himfelf a fecond time, at the difcretion of a court where his enemies were all powerful. The King of Navarre thought differ- ently. Lefs culpable, or more credulous than his brother, he believed, that by going to the States, they mould obtain, without difficulty, that re- form in the government, which had already cofl them fo much labor ; whereas, by refilling to t>e prefent, they would betray their own interefts, and leave the field open to the ambition and vio- lence of the Princes of Lorrain. He could not believe, that under the eyes of the whole nation afiembled, a King fcarcely out of his infancy, an Italian Princefs, and two ftrangers, would dare
to
150 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
to imbrue their hands in the blood of the Princes of the royal houfe, which the Monarchs the moft abfolute and the moil vindictive, had ever regard- ed as facred. All thefe motives determined him to venture to the States, with the Prince, to whom he reprefented, that they would infallibly condemn him unheard, if he continued obftinate- ly to abfent himfelf from court ; whereas, by appearing there, and gaining to his interefts the deputies in the States, there was every reafon to hope, that if, on judging him with rigor, they mould blame his proceedings, the equity of his pretenfions, would afford him a favourable co- lour, and in the laft extremity, his birth would obtain him a pardon. All the confidants and par- tizans of the Princes, fupported this advice, ex- cept the wife and mother-in-law of the Prince of Conde, who conftantly rejected it, and judged that his life was aimed at, and that of all the courfes he could take that which was recommend- ed to him was the moft dangerous.
rTUb0l *n tne midft of thefe irrefolutions, the King fent them De Cruffol and Saint Andre, to engage fli Andre, them to repair to Orleans. Thefe Lords remon- , , H 'ft rated to them, that an Affembly fo relpectable, •*
JCnt 10 ffl( j i_- i r j r
and which occaiioned 10 great an expence to the J*6urb<m.* cU King and the nation, had not been called but on $> earn e their account, and to fatisfy their complaints and demands : That they were there to deliberate on the means of reforming the government, and appealing the difputes ot religion ; matters of fo high importance, that they could not be decided, without the prefence and concurrence of the Prin- ces of ..ic blood. That if the Princes of Bourbon, after having fo often demanded the reformation of the government, and an examination of the
caufe
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 151
caufe of the Hugonots, refufed to aflift at the States aflembled tor thofe purpofes, it would feem that they meant to trifle with the King, and in- fult the majefty of an aflembly which represent - ed the body of the nation. That they ought hereafter, to impute to themfelves alone, their exclufion from dignities and governments, ilnce they had not deigned to come and receive the authority which the King appeared difpofed to grant them, with the concurrence of the States. That this conduct proving their little attachment to the fervice of the King, and the good of the kingdom, they ought not to be furprized if the firmed refolutions mould be taken to extirpate the feeds of difcord, and manifeft dcfigns to dif- turb the (late. That if the King was difpofed to reward fuch as gave him proofs of their obedience and fidelity, he was equally determined to reduce to a forced but neceilary fubmiilion, thofe who mould attempt to refift his will, and excite re- volts in the cities and Provinces of his kingdom ; a crime of which he would fufpect the Princes of Bourbon, as long as they mould neglect to juftify themfelves, and their abfence and obftinacy mould confirm, the injurious reports which were fpread concerning them. That hitherto neither the King nor his Council, had given credit to them ; but that the King defired that, for the honor of the royal blood, the Princes would give proofs of their fidelity and of their zeal for the good of the ftate, and would juftify the fincerity of their intentions in the eyes of Fiance, whofe attention was attracted and fixed by the aflembly of the States. Thefe reprefentations made little im- preilion on the Prince of Conde, who was rcfolv- ed not to rifque his perfon, in a place where
enemies
IrA
152 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
enemies could do all things. But his firiii- ncfs was, in the end, conftrained to bend under the ncceflity. Gruffol returned to court, with an account of the averfion of the Prince,' to come to the States. The Guiles advifed to employ force to determine him. The Queen did not oppofe it : and the King took the refolution to conftrain them by force of arms. To this end they fendde Thermcs into Gafcony, andbe- */<-ft «w gan to form under his command, an army com- pofed of Gendarmcry and all the Infantry diftri- butcd in the neighbouring Provinces.
The Bourbons were without troops, deftitute of every thing, (hut up in Beam, a little Province at the foot of the Pyrcnnees, wedged in between France and Spain. They doubted -not, that if, on the one hand the troops of the King aflembled in Gafcony, and on the other, thofe of the Kins:
* 7 7 O
of Spain, who ardently wiflied to invade the feeble remains of MavL\_Te, mould attack them, they mould eafily be fubjugated and ftripped of their dominions. The infurreclions which the Prince of Con.de had excited in France, had been attended with no fuccefs. He was in Beam without troops and without money. The King of JNavarre who would not expoie the reft of his ftatcs, nor his wife and children, whom he had about him, yielded to nccellity, more powerful than any tounfels, and finally determined his brother on the journey to Orleans, in the gene- ral perforation, that, especially during the fefllon of the States, the rniniitry would not take any violent refolution againil them ; whereas, by ob- -Hinately remaining at Beam, they would expofe thcmfelves to the infamy which always accom- panies the name of rebels, and ruin themfelves
without
DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA. 153
vtilhout rcfource.- The Cardinal of Bourbon,
their brother, contributed not a little to haftei\
this refolution. The ibftnefs and ductility of his
character, his avcrfion to troubles, his tendernefs
for his brothers, and the infinuations of the
Queen, engaged him to ride poft to Beam, as foon
as he learnt the intentions and preparations of
the court, to force the King of Navarre and the
Prince of Conde' to appear at the States. He ex-
aggerated, on one hand, the number of troops
dcitincd againit them, and capable of cruiliing
them ; and on the other, he affured them, that
the King and the Queen, had difcovered none,
but favorable difpoiitions, and an earned zeal to
re-eflab'im concord and public tranquility. They
left, therefore, the Queen Jane and her children, Ja/ht- Omd kw
at Pau, andwith fewattendantSjall three together, [tkLL<4r>~,
took the road to Orleans.
The Conftable, whom the court affecled to urge lefs, becaufe he was in a place where he might be more eafily compelled, had commenced his journey with more confidence in appearance, but in reality with more precaution. He had not abetted the difcontcnted but with his coun- fels, which only tended to demand juftice of the States, without plotting confpiracies, or exciting infurreclions. A refuial to go to court might fortify the fufpicions conceived againft him : He therefore employed artifice and diilimulation, delay his arrival and regulate his proceedings by L the example of the Princes. Arrived at Paris, he^/3*^ **»' pretended to be attacked with the gout, and rc-J-™t~i'j turned to Chantilly to re-eflablifh liis health. HeJ»>« / again attempted to proceed, but under the pre-J^^v text that the change of air and the motion oi the carriage incommoded him, which his advanced**-'
ow could
ij4 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
age rendered plaufible enough ; he travelled by little day's journeys, frequently by crofs-ways,. at a diilance from the great road, where he made long delays, to prolong the time, till the arrival of the Princes. His fons, in perfuading him to haftcn his march, reprefented to him, that neither the Queen mother nor the Guifes would ever dare to attempt any thing againft a man, fo re- fpected as he was in the kingdom. The Confta- ble, inftructecl by experience, anfwered them, that the miniftry could govern the ftate at its plcafure, and without oppontion, though they fcemed to be preparing for themfelves a formida- JteU** tt*~ ble one, by callino; the States General. That this
• • • •
ti£ u~i conduce inveloped fome inyitenous intrigue* which he ihould be able to unveil, with a little patience. This judicious reflection abated the ardor of the young Lords,.and the Conftable con- tinued to temporize-
Neverthelefs the King of Navarre and the prince of Conde had been received on the fron- 3 "/>**. tjers ^ t}ie Marihal de Thermes, who, under the pretext of paying them the honors due to their yktnrmA rank, followed them with a large body of Caval- ry, to make fure of the cities become fufpectecl by the depofition of La Sague. At the fame time, he ordered poffeffion to be taken by other troops, both of Cavalry and Infantry, of all -the roads, whicji the Princes left behind them, left a change of their rcfolution mould determine them to return. As foon as it was known at court, that the Princes had entered the kingdom, and were fo well obferved by DC Thermes, they ar- reiled, all on afudden, Jerome Grollot, Bailif of Jtrsnu. troll at Orleans, accufed of intelligence with the Hugo- AUci nots, to caufc a revolt of that city in favor of the
difcon-tentecl
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 155
clifcontented Princes ; and by order of the King, they fent to prifon the Vidamc of Chartres, who/fcfai"< had been imprudent enough to remain in the Capital. They had not the fame fuccefs in at- tempting to feizc Dandelot. As prudent a fubtle in providing againft dangers, as ardent and daring in forming defigns, he retired fudden- ly to the coafts of Brittany, refolved to embark for England in cafe of neceffity. The Admiral . .. .
Coligni, whofe addrefs and diffimulation, accord- "**
ing to Davila, had hitherto conducted every thing, without difcovering or expofmg himfelf, was among the firft in the States General, with defign there to labor in favor of his party. The King and the Queen had received him as ufual, with benevolence. He employed himfelf in fol- lowing with his eye, all the meafures of the court, in order to give information of them, fe- cretly, and with extreme precautions, to the Conftable and the King of Navarre.
All thefe delays were exhaufted, when the Princes of the blood arrived at Orleans, the 2Qth of October, without any perfon's going out to receive them, except a imall number of their Dioft intimate friends. They found not only the gates of the city guarded, but bodies of guards placed and batteries erected in the ftrongeft pofis, in the crofs ftreets and public places ; precautions which the court had not ufually taken in times of war. They parlcd through the midft of this formidable apparatus, and came to the King's Lodge, where they kept a more exact guard, than at the head-quarters of an army. Arrived at the gate, they would have entered on horfb- back, according to the right attached to their
rank :
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
rank : but they found only a wicket gate opcni and were obliged to alight in the open itreet, and few perfons appeared to receive or falute them. They were conducted to the King, whom they found fitting between the Duke of Guife and the Cardinal of Lorrain, furrounded by the Captains. of his guards. He received the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde, with a coldnefs very different from that affability which the Kings of France are accuftomed to practice to all their fubjects, but above all to the Princes of their blood. He conducted them foon to the Queen- rnother, where the Guifes did not follow them. Catharine of Medicis, who wifhcd always to ap- pear neuter and diimterefted, received them with ordinary demonftrations of fnendfhip, but with an affected forrow, and artificial tears. The King /<" continued to treat them with the fame coldnefs,
i /I *\ and addreffing himfelf to the Prince of Conde, lie began to reproach him, that without having
fccmiU. received from his Majefty, either difpleafure or ill treatment, he had in contempt of all laws, di- vine and human, excited feveral times his fub- jects, inkindled a war in different parts of his kingdom, attempted to feize on his principal cities, and confpired againft his life, and that of his brothers. The Prince, without emotion, anfwered with fircnnefs, that thefe accufations were fo many calumnies forged by his enemies. We muft proceed then, replied the King, by the ordinary ways of juftice, to difcover the truth. He went out of the apartment of the Queen, and commanded the Captains of his guards to arreft
~ ' the Prince of Conde. The Queen-mother, forced.
ui&c ar to Confent to this meafure, but who had not for- gotten that things might change, from one mo- ment
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 157
inent to another, exerted hcrfelf to confolc the King of Navarre. The Prince complained of none but the Cardinal of Bourbon his brother, who had deceived him ; and fuffercd himfelf to be conducted to a neighbouring houfc, deftined f ^ . for his prifon. They had walled up the windows, " )7- doubled the doors, and made it a kind of fortrefs defended by feveral pieces of artillery and a ilrong guard. The King of Navarre, alloniihed at the detention of his brother, breathed out hi.-; grief in coin plaints and reproaches to the Queen, who, cafting all the blame on the Duke of Guif'e, as Lieutenant General of the Kingdom, endeav- ored only to exculpate herfelf. To the King of Navarre, they gave for a lodging, an houfe, at a .little diftance from that which the Kincr occupied, and guards' to obferve his motions ; ib that, ex- cepting the liberty of feeing whom he pleafecl, he was in all other refpech treated and confined like_> a prifoner. At the fame time they arrefted Eon- J!>au.cAti~t. chart, his fecretary, with all his lettersand papers; >-^»^^ and Madeleine de Roye, mother-in-law of \\\QjHouL,L*i Prince, with all her lettersand papers, at her feat at ew •+&•*• Anili. Although they held the gates of Orleans ^ lliut, and differed no perfon to go out, the news of thcfe tranfactions were announced to the Con- liable, who was ftill but a few leagues from Paris, / He fufpended his journey, refohred to pafs no fur- ther, but to wait and obferve the confequences of thefe events.
Thus the myftery fufpected by the Conftable%« Jta.ta was unriddled. The States General wcrefum- a^-ra. moned only as a net is laid, artfully to beiprung^ upon game. This game were the Conftable and Princes, and their principal friends. They were a mere ftalking-horfe, behind which to ihoot a
wood-cock j
158 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
wood-cock ; and that wood-cock was the Prince of Conde. Although of the two authorities which were up, the Court and the States, neither was fupreme ; yet the one we fee might be taken by the other. We {hall foon fee that confufion entered by the gap.
No. 22.
iatervftnit dande* his cogttattonibust avttum malum, regnl atque inde fadum cert amen coortum.
THE Queen-mother and the Guifes, delayed no longer the opening of the States. They began by the profefiion of faith, drawn up by the Sor- bonne, conformably to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. The Cardinal de Tournon, Preiident of the order of the Clergy, read it with a loud voice, and each of the deputies approved and adhered to it, upon oath -. a precaution which they judged neceflary to affure themfelves . of the catholicity of thofe who were to have a
fa «x deliberative voice, in the general ailembly. After this ibkmn act, the Chancellor propofed, in the prefence of the King, the matters which were'to be taken into confideration. At the inftance of the Provinces, the three orders feparated, to examine the refpedive demands, and make report of their rcfolu- iions. But all this was merely theatrical : it was R-othing but farcical fcenery. The Guifes knew, as well as the Conftable de Montmorency, that
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA, 159
the miniftry could govern thekingdom, and nation at its will, us a Court or hereditary Supreme Exe- cutive always will, where it is checked only by a {ingle reprefqntative atTeinbly, cfpecially it' that afTembly have no authority but to advife. un- lefs it has recourfe to violence. Nay, if it have Legiflative authority, the majority in that aiTcmbly can only govern, by impofing its own men on the Executive, in other words, by forcing the King to take their creatures into the miniftry. So that the miniftry and the majority in the National Affembly muft always act in con- , » • /
cert, and be agreed; and they generally are fo, fOor*lQu<& lb to the intolerable oppreffion of the minority, as f,^ in this cafe, until. the minority rife in arms, &*• Reformation of government, and liberty of confcience, and redrefs of grievances in re-
,. . r i_- A. i '• t i i
ligion, were fubjects which the court had too much cunning to bring before the Affembly. That would have been, as the Conilable exprefled it, to have prepared a formidable opposition to fhemfelves. Had the point been then fettled, that the States were a Legiflative Affembly ; and had the queftion of religion been brought fairly into deliberation and difcuflion before them, it is very probable that liberty of confcience to the Hugonots, might have been the remit, even in that age. But thefe, as Davila fays, were the fmalleft objects they had in view : all minds ex- peeled with much more folicitucle, the iffue of the detenfion of the Prince of Conde. Their doubts were foon refolved by a declaration of council figned by the King, the Chancellor and all the grandees, except the Guifes, who, as fuf- pecled of partiality, affected not to appear in this affair. A commiflion was eftabliflied for the trial of the Prince, with authority to render a
definitive
160 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
°1 cU { definitive fentence. DC Thou, prefident, and . / ^ Faye and Viole, counfellors of the Parliament of parjSj ^verc the Judges — Bourdin, Attorney Gen- eral, Tillot, Secretary : All the interrogations and acts were done in the prefence of the Chan- cellor L'Hopital. They heard the depofitions of the prifoners of Amboife, Lyons and others. They made preparations to interrogate the Prince. He refufed to anfwer, alledging that in quality of Prince of the blood, he acknowledged no other tribunal, than the Parliament of Paris. He de- manded an affembly of all the chambers of Par- liament ; that the King" mould be prefent in per- fon, and that the twelve Peers mould have a voice, as well as the great oflicers of the crown, according: to the ancient ufao-e. That he could
O *-*
not excufe himfelf, for not remonftrating againfl a proceeding fo unheard of, and irregular, and from appealing to the King. This appeal was carried to council, and appeared authorized by reafon, by the ordinary formalities, and by the cuftoms of the kingdom. But the fpirit of rival- ry, which is the fpirit of party, demanded a fud- den vengeance : a party at prefent triumphant, but doubtful whether it were at bottom the moft powerful, were impelled by fear, as well as hatred, to wim a prompt decifion. The appeal was de- clared null. But the Prince, having renewed it, and perfifted in his protections, the council, at the motion of the Attorney-General, pronounced that they ought ro confidei *he Prince as con- victed, iince he refufed to anfwer to commiflion- ers named by the King. In this manner they obliged him to fubmit to interrogatories, and. purfued the trial, without lofs of time, to final judgment.
The Princes of Bourbon, at the fummit of
misfortune,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
misfortune, were very near expiating with their blood, the heinous crime of daring to ftand in. competition with the Guiles, to patronize liberty of confcience, and to fhelter from perfecution the diftrefled Hugonots : as Manlius was precipitated from the Tarpeian Rock, for being the friend of the oppreffed debtors, and the rival of Camillus and the Quintian family. Both were accufed, it is true, with crimes againft the ftate. The fplendor of the birth^of the two Bourbons, and their perfonal merit, interefted all France. Even their enemies pitied their deftiny. The Guifes alone, naturally enterprizing, purfued conftantly their deligns, without regard to the merit or quality of thofe Princes, whether they judged fuch an act of fe verity abfolutely neceflary, to the fafety and tranquility of the kingdom, or whether, as their enemies fuppofed, they had no- thing in view but the deftruction of their rivals, and the eftablifliment of their own grandeur. They declared openly, that it was neceflary by two ftrokes, at the fame time, to ftrike off the heads of Herefy and Rebellion. Such is the fpirit of 'fophiftry : and fuch is the fpirit of party. The VV» aJ: Queen-mother, although me confented fecretly, // and wimed that the refolution taken at Amboife, of deftroying the Princes, mould be executed, delircd neverthelefs, that all the odium of it Ihould fall upon the Guifes, as flie had always had the addrefs, to accOmplim. She propofed to manage the two parties, for fear of thofe un- forefeen events, which the inconflancy of fortune might produce ; and affected much grief and melancholly in her behaviour, and referve in her difcourfe. She had even frequent conferences /•-/-//
with the twoChatillonSjthe Admiral andCardinal,^* C*& w
1 62 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA,
in which {he appeared difpofed to feek fome ex- pedient, to extricate from danger the Princes of the blood. She amufed in the fame manner, the Dutchefs of Montpenfier, a Princefs full of the fa i f beft intentions, an enemy of all diffimulation,
, / ( " and who judged of the characters of others by
#TIC f#*r (,h&Tt{u ,T n.'Jj • • r; 1 TT r A.
., , the rectitude or her own. Her inclination to
Calymifm, and her intimate connections with the King of Navarre, had enabled her to com- mence and continue between that Prince and the Queen, a fecret correspondence. Thefe in- trigues, although directly oppofite to the conduct which the court held in public, were palliated with ib much artifice, that the rnofl clear-lighted, could not unravel their genuine defign, even when they reflected on the depths of the fecrets Hem eUtfm of mankind, and the diverfity of interefts and }L pafllons which ferve as motives to their actions. ? Already the commiilloners had rendered their judgment again ft the Prince of Conde. They had condemned him. as convicted of high treafon and rebellion, to be beheaded, before' the palace of the King, at the hour of the affembly of the States General. They delayed the execution, only to draw into the fame fnare the Conftable, who, in fpight of the repeated inftances of the court, {till delayed his journey to the States. They wiihed to involve in the fame profcription the King of Navarre, but they had not proofs againft him, fufficient to fatisfy their own crea- ' tures, when one morning the King, in dreffing
l?. himfelf, fell all at once into a fwoon, fo deep, and ' violent, that his officers believed him to be dead. He recovered his fenfes, it is true : but his malady was judged to be mortal, and his life was defpair- ed o*f. This fatal mifchance terrified the Guifes.
They
DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA. 165
They prcfled the Queen-mother, to execute the ientence ao;ainil the Prince of Conde', while the
O
breath remained in the body of the King, and to take the fame refolution againlt the King of Navarre, to prevent nil the revolutions which they might have to fear, in cafe of the King's death. They reprefented to her, with warmth, that this was the fole means oi : preferring .the crown to her other infant children, and of difli- pating the ftorm which menaced France : tint, although the Conftable was not arrefted, and in the prefent delicate circumilances, it would not be prudent to feize him, yet that when they fliould have no longer to fear, neither the credit, nor the pretenfions of the Princes of the blood, the Conftable would be lefs formidable, as he would neither have the nobility in his interefts nor the Hugonots of his party : that to deliberate •in the moment of execution, and fufpend it in this critical fituation of the King, would be ,to4 lofe the fruit of fo many projects conducted to their end, with let' much artifice and patience: that even the death of the King ought not to be an obftacle, becaufe that brothers fuccecding him of right, the fame reafons and the fame interefts ftill fubfifted, both for them and their mother. The Queen who had known how to preferve herfelf neuter, at leafl in appearance, and who had not motives fo urgent to precipitate mea- fures, coniidered that under a minority, Kings might change their afpecb, and that the exceffive grandeur of the Guifes remaining without oppo- iition, might become to her as formidable as the ambition of the Princes of the blood. Thus, fometimes by fuppofing the diftemper of the King to be lefs dangerous, tbmetimes by fpread-
1 64 DISCOURSES ON DAV1LA,
ing favorable reports of a fpeedy cure, {he gained time, delayed the execution of the Prince, and refer ved the liberty of acting according to circum- ftances, conformably to thofe views, in which fhe was confirmed by the councils of the Chancellor de L'Hofpital. As foon as fhe had known that the King's life was in danger, me requefted the fon of the Duke de Montpenfier, to conduct her fecretly one night into the apartment of the King of Navarre, and in a long converfation which me had with him, fhe endeavored, with her ordinary diflimulation, to perfuade him, that ihe was very far from approving all that had faffed, and wifhed to act in concert with him, to oppofe the ambition of the Guifes. The Prince depended little on the fincerity of thefe proteft- ations : they had however an effect in the fequel. On the fifth of December the King died. Ac* S*.«^t<T Charles the ninth, fecond fon of the Queen, fucceeded to Francis the fecond, his brother. ^ Jut ^e was kut eleven years of age, and muft have . a tutor ancj the Kingdom a -regent.
i\ / '
No. 23.
*£ Utrumque regem, fua multitude confalutaverat.
^ EACH party expected its own regent. The ancient ufage, and laws often confirmed by the States, called of right to the function, the King of Navarre. But what a reverfe ? What an ap- pearance ? To confide the perfon of the young
King,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 165
King, and the government of the kingdom to a Prince SuSpected of a conspiracy againft the ftate, detained as a priSoner, and the accomplice of a brother condemned to death ! iff//
The Guiles had o-overncd with Supreme ruitho- Ww Jh cui (
•
rity under the late King, and attempted the molt violent meaSurcs. By committing to them the fame power, it was eafy to follow the fame plan ori (t and execute the lame defigns. But they were ^ not of the royal blood : how, commit to them the tutorage of a young King, contrary to all the laws of the monarchy ? What envy, what jca- loufy, what oppofitions would they not have to contend with, from the nobility and the grandees, who would be difcontcnted with their power, and afpire to defpoil them of it ?
The States had Sometimes con Sided the reo'en-
O
cy to the mothers of Kings, during their minori- ty, and in the prefent competition of So many interefts and contending factions, it was not pru- dent to place in other hands, the life of the King, and the confervation of the Hate. — But a woman, a Stranger, without partifans, and with- out Support, could me maintain her ground a- gainft two Such powerSul factions, ready to Sup- port their prctenSions by the Sorce of arms ? The Gi/ijes, forcfeeing what might eafily happen, leagued themSelves with the Cardinal de Tonrnon^ the Duke de Nemours, the Marflials de Brijfac and Saint Andre, Sippiere, governor of Orleans, and many other great Lords, with whofe influence they reinSorced their party, to defend their lives and preferve their power. The King of Navarre, conceiving happier hopes for the future, united, more ftrictly than ever, with the Chatillons, the Admiral and Cardinal, the Prince de Porcicn,
1 65 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
and many others of their partifans. He iecretly armed his friends, and difpatched couri* er after courier to tjie Conftable. The two par- ties, having thus placed thernfelves in a pofture of defence, the whole court, and the troops di- vided themfelves among them, and even the de- puties of the States took their party, each one followed his paffions, his intereft, or his princi- ples.
Never did the neceffity of a third mediating power, or an umpire, appear more plainly than in this cafe. Had there been a conilitution in France, and had that conftitution provided, as it ought to have done, a third party, whofe intereft and duty it fhould have been to do juftice to the other two, and every individual of each, there ;would have been little .danger to the peace, li- berty or happinefs of the people : for fuch an in-. -termediate authority, by doing juftice to all fides, would have been joined and fupported by the honeft and virtuous of all fides, and by this means would have controuled both parties by the laws. But in this inftance it feemed impoflible to foisTi a third party. Agitation and terror reigned every where. It was dreaded every moment that the friends of the King, of Navarre, and thofe of the Guifes would come to blows. All their meafures and devices tended mutually to deftroy each other. Nature itfelf, however, without much aid from any conftitution, pro- duced an effect. Although this unbridled ardor of ruling, inflamed as it was by private animofl- ties, hindered not the two parties from render- ing publickly their obedience to the King, this fubmiffion had no other principle than a jealoufy and mutual apprehenfion, that the one party
would
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. , 167
would match from the other the firft /place in the government. This motive only,/ and not any refpect for a conftitution, had made both parties eager to appear to be the firft to do hom- age to Charles the IXth, and on the day of the death of his brother, he was unanimoufly recog- nized as lawful fovereign. This ftep tended in- fenlibly to re-eftablifh order and authority. The Queen-mother faw that it would not be fafe to truft the life of her young children, nor the ad- miniftration of the ftate, to either of the parties, one of which was extremely irritated and em- bittered, and the other full of allurance and haughty pretenfions, both well fupported and ready to proceed to the laft extremities. She deiired to continue iniftrefs of her children, and of the o;overnment of the ftate : She propofed,
O * •*• At f I
to this end, to remain as a mediatrix 5 and M^k-it* thought that the two parties, unable to agree among themfelves, and neither being able to triumph over the other, they would both unite in her favor, and abandon to her, by concert, an authority which the oppolition of their competi- tors would hinder them from obtaining for themfelves. We fee in this inftance that the tripplc balance, is fo eftablimed by providence in the conftitution of nature, that order, without • it, can never be brought out of anarchy andcon- fuiion. The laws therefore ihould cftabliili this equilibrium, as the dictate of nature and the or- dinance of providence.
Catharine hoped, that by conducting with a- bility, the reins of the ftate would return to her hands. She firft thought of making lure of tkc Princes of Lorrain. A negotiation fo delicate and thorny, ought not to be conf.dcd to any but
the
i6B DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
the ableft hands. The Queen, after having caft her eyes on feveral perfons, fixed them at laft on the Marfhal de Saint Andre, as the man of the court the moft proper to affure herfuccefs. She lent for him, and after feveral difcourfes, the re- iult was, that it would be impofiible to terminate the differences of the two parties, without tu- mult and war, but by relaxing fomewhat of their pretenfions, by ceding a part on both fides, and making the Queen the arbitratrix of their inter- eft. That by this plan, the two parties, without yielding one to the other, would appear, from refpect, and for the peace of the public, to give way to the mother of their King, who fliould hold the equilibrium between the Guifes and the Bourbons.
The Queen was a politician refined enough to pretend that me was indebted for this council to the prudence of the Marfhal, rather than that Hie had fuggefted it to him, which was the fact. The Mzkffiial, judging without paffion, that this project would be very convenient to the ilippery and perilous (ituation in which the Guifes flood, undertook to negotiate with their party. Upon the propofition which he made of it to the Duke and Cardinal, and which they brought into deli- beration in an aiTcmbly of their confidents ; the opinion of thefe, and even of the two brothers, were divided. The Duke, who had more cau- tion and moderation than his brother, yielded to the accommodation, which was to leave him in polTellion of the governments and riches which he held front the liberality of the late Kings. But the Cardinal more ambitious and more vio- v*o~ ]ent? rejected all compromifes, and pretended that they would prefefve their power in the
fame
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
fame degree, as they had cxercifed it under Fran- cis lid. The fentiment of the Duke was approv- ed by the Cardinal de Tournon, the Marfhals Brif-
and Sttif/f Andre ) and above all, by Sepiere, the advice of all which perfonages had a weight, which accompanies an high reputation for pru- dence juftly acquired. All judged it fufficient for the Guifes to preferve their credit and honors, and preferve themfelves for circumftances more favorable ; and the refult they communicated to the Queen by Saint Andre, and left to her the choice of means the mod proper to treat wijli the King of Navarre.
There remained Hill a greater obftacle to over- come : to appeafe the faction of the difconlented Princes ; an entcrprize which jmany thought impoiTible and chimerical : but the Queen, who perfectly knew the characters and difpolitions of the perfons with whom fhe had to treat, did not dcfpair of obtaining her end. The King of Na- varre had for his principal confidents, Defcars^ Gafcon, and Lconcourt, Biiliop of Auxerre. Def- cars had a contracted genius and little experience ; Leoncouri was a defigning politician, but folely in- tent upon his own fortune. The Queen fecretly gained both, by approaching each on his weak iide. She dazzled Defcars with prefcnts, and a- mufed him with fpecious reafonings. And flic excited in the Bifhop of Auxerre, hopes of ec- cleliditical benefices and dignities which he could not eafily obtain by the fole credit of the King of Navarre. They both promifed, under the pre- text of giving faithful and fmcere council to their mafter, to favor the negotiations which tended to bring the two parties together, and commit the regency to the Queen-Mother.
•x The
i7o DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
rhe Dutchefs of Montpenfier9 carried the firf? propofals of accommodation. Her candor and franknefs, had gained the confidence of the Queen of Navarre. In the progrefs of things, C arranges- and Lanfac, Lords of confummate prudence, en- tered inienfibly into this negotiation. By means of thefe perfons the Queen propofed to the King of Navarre three conditions, i. To fet at liberty all who had been arrefted for the confpiracy of Amboife, the Prince of Conde, Madam de Roye, and the Vidame de Chartres ; and to annul by the Parliament of Paris, the fentence againft the Prince. 2. To create the King of Navarre, lieutenant-general of the kingdom, on condition that the Queen had the title and authority of regent. 3. To obtain of the King of Spain the restitution of Navarre. The confidents of the King of Navarre, exaggerated to him thefe ad- vantages ; they reprefented to him that the name of regent, a title without reality, wasj^ut an emp- ty and ipecious found, for which he would be abundantly recompenfed by the power and au- thority, which would be given him over the provinces ; prerogatives in which confifted the effective government of the kingdom. That the glory of delivering the Prince of Condc, by the humiliation of his enemies, joined to the hope of re-eftabliming forever his houfe, in its original fplendor, left him no room to hefitate. It is not a time, faid they, to conteft with rigor againft enemies fo powerful. You have to combat the prejudices, which your enterprizes againft the ftate have excited. Why, upon the brink of a precipice, do you indulge chimerical hopes ? The deputies of the Jlatcs arc ahno/i all, devoted to the of the Qvccn and the Guifes, w/;o have cbofen
them
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
at .their pic afar c and gained them to .their inter- If the affair is left to their deciiion, it is to be feared that their partiality, will incline them to exclude the Princes from the government, and commit it to the Guifes, which would infalli- bly accomplifh the final ruin of the houfe of Bourbon.
Thefc reafons (hook the refolution of the King of Navarre, and difpofed him to follow thele councils : but he was ftill reftrained by the Prince of Co fide, whofe keen refentment and defire of vengeance, rather than folid reafons, excited to advife the contrary. The Duke de Montpenfter and the Prince de la Rhoche-fur-pn^ fupported thofe who negotiated an accommodation. Both were of the houfe of Bourbon, but of a branch more diftant from the royal-flock, and had not meddled in thefe troubles.
The King <?f Navarre, before he concluded with the Queen, demanded of her by the imme- diate negotiators, two new conditions, i. That they mould take away from the Guifes all the employments they had at court. 2. That liberty of confcience mould be given to the Hugono.ts. From the time that Calvin had begun to preach and co write, the firft feeds of his doctrines had bceu fown in the court of Henry, King of Na- varre, and Margaret of Valois, his confort, father fau.lL. 3>tu*t<^ and mother of the Queen Jane ; and as the minds n an) ^TT* // of thefe Princes were indifpofed to the See of t~St-~**^*** Rome, which had ftripped them of their flates ,/7> i*k* £=*~A^>- ^ under pretext of an excommunication, fulminat-^^^ •*)-** />vc ed by the Pope, Julius the fecond, againft France, ^ ftj, S ***•*•• —• a*?*1* and its allies ; in the number of whom was the \ iKing of Navarre ; they \vere eafily perfuaded of z doctrine contrary to the authority of the Fopc,
and
i72 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
and which taught that the cenfures by which they had loft their ftates, were null. The Cal- viniftical minifters, frequenting the court of thefe Princes, there taught their opinions, which had n J caft fo deep roots into the mind of Queen Jane,
1 -that {he had abandoned the Catholic faith to em- brace Calvinifm. Since her marriage with An- thony of Bourbon, fhe perfifted in the fame fen- timents. She had nearly converted her hufband, by the vehement eloquence of Theodore JSeza, Peter Martin Vennilly, and other minifters who retired into Beam, there to preach their opinions in full liberty. The Prince of Conde, the admi- ral, and the other chiefs of the party of the Prin - ces of the blood, having alfo embraced Calvinifm, fome with lincerity, and others to difguife their political views, under-the pretext of religion, the King of Navarre perfifted more conftantly than ever, to declare himielf protector of the Hugo- riots. For this reafon, he demanded that they ihould grant to the Calvinifts liberty of con- fcicnce, as an elfential condition of the treaty, opened with the Queens. This Princefs anfwered that to deprive the Guifis of the dignities they held at court, would be to go directly againft the agreement which was in negotiation, and the re- folution taken to reftore the tranquility of the Kingdom. That thefe Lords who were very powerful, and actually armed, would not endure an affront fo public and outrageous : but that, fupported by the Catholics and the majority of the ftates, they would exert all their forces and efforts, to maintain their^ground. Shepromifed however to employ, in due time, all her addrefs, to diminifh their credit and power. .As to the liberty of confcience, Ihe convinced them that it
was
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 173
was a point too delicate, to be granted all at once : That the Parliaments and even the States, would not fail to oppofc it : But (lie promif'ed, in fecret, that in governing with the King of Navarre, fhe would labor in concert with him, by indirect and concealed ways, tofsize all favorable occafions to grant to the reformed all the liberty of confcience that might be poilible. The Queen, yielding to the neceility of the conjuncture, gave thefe pro- mifes, without any intention to obferve them : She therefore delayed the execution of them, with all her addrefs. In fact, me knew, or at leaft believed, that nothing was more contrary to the grandeur and interelt of her children, than totally to deprefs the Guifes^ who ferved, admi- rably well, the purpofe of balancing the power of the Princes of the blood. On the other hand, the liberty of confcience granted to the 'Hugo- hots, would have offended the See of Rome, and the other Catholic Princes, and fcattered forever, as flie pretended, diforder and diflention in the kingdom.
The coalition was on the point of concluflon, when the King of Navarre declared that he would determine nothing, without the advice, and con- fent of the Conilable, who had cured all his gouts, fluxions and rheums, or in other words, difmifled his pretexts, and approached Orleans. It was therefore necefTary to invent new projects, to furmount this obftacle, which many imagined the moft diilicult of all. The Queen knew to the bottom, the character of the Conftable, and that nothing flattered him more, than the part of umpire or moderator in every thing that pafled around him. She thought that by reftor- ing him the fupreme command of the army, and
by
DISCOURSES ON 13 A VILA.
by alluring lilm, that it was from him that wimed to hold her own grandeur, and the fafety of her children ; {he would fix him eafily in her intereft, and detach him equally from both par- ties. Thus, with the advice of the King of Na- varre, and the Guifes, who were returning to pacific fentiments, and fee.med to fubmit all to her will ; me ordered the captains of the guards, and the governor of Orleans to furrender to the Conftable, at his entrance into the city, the com- mand of the armies, and to acknowledge him for tlieir chief. Thefe marks of honor awakened in, the breaft of Anne of Montmorency, the ancient fentiments of devotion and fidelity, which had attached him for fo many years to the father and grand-father of the King. Arrived at Orleans, he turned to the captains and faid, with his or- dinary -dignity, that fince the King had rcftored him his command, they might difpenfe with guarding his Majefty fo exactly in full peace ; and that without employing the force of arms, he would make his matter refpecled through the whole kingdom and by .all his fubjects. Arrived at the palace, where the Queen loaded him with honors, he rendered his homage to the young King, and with tears in his eyes, conjured him to fear nothing from the prefent troubles, for that he and all arood Frenchmen, were readv to
O 7 ' * r
facrifice their lives for the fupport of his crown. The Queen encouraged by this difcourfe, the firft proof of the fuccefs of her contrivances, entered without delav into fecret conferences with the
4
Conftable, before that others had time to enter- tain and to gain him. She protefted that me ex- pected every thing from him, both for her chil- dren and hcrielf j that the royal authority and the
public
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
ftfblic good were no longer but idL' names, for tixo facllons embittered agaiiijl each other, for their mu- tual deftruftion ; that me defpaired of prcferving to her children under age, a crown envied and attacked by iuch powerful enemies ; unlefs his fidelity, of which he had fo long given iuch fhining proofs, mould caufe him to embrace the defence of the young monarch, of a kingdom torn with divifions, and of all the royal family. Thefe words in the mouth of a woman, a mother, a Queen in affliction, made fo deep an imprellion on the mind of the Conftable, that he conferred to the accommodation ready to be concluded with the King of Navarre. Flattered with the humiliation of the Guifes, and re-eftabliihed in the functions of the firit truft in the kingdom, he
O '
renounced all interefts of faction, and refolved to unite with the Queen, for the>prefervation of the ftate, in which he afpired only to reaffume the place whicli he had merited by his long fervices.
Concord being thus eftabiifhed, by the authori- ty of the Conftable, they affembled the council : All the Princes and officers of the crown afllftcd at it ; and the Chancellor having, according to cuftom, made the proportions in prefence of the King, they concluded unanimoufly that the Queen mould be declared regent of the kingdom, the King of Navarre lieutenant-general in the Pro- vinces : the Conftable, generaliiTmio of the ar- mies, the Duke of Guife, grand-mafter of the King's houmold, and the Cardinal dc Lorrain., iu- perintendant of the finances.
The Prince of Conde was now difcharged from Prifon, and an Arret of the Parliament of Paris, conceived in honorable terms, difcharged him from all the accufations againft him j and the
fentcnce
;76 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
fentence declared null and irregular, as work of judges incompetent in the caufe of
Y i i the Princes of the blood. The Vidarne /de Char- ', * t tres, died of chagrin in the Baflile, before the
j- nr rit coalition was iiniilied. Thus ended the year
. £ *
1500.
^n tne beginning of the year 1561, the Queen- mother and the King of Navarre difmiffed the States General, lead the Guifes mould excite fome fermentation there. The formation of a con- Ititution and the fettlement of religion, were never the real objects for which they had been called. It appears not that they were even alked to ratify the regency in the Queen-mother. So loofe and uncertain was the fovereignty of that great nation, that a confufed agreement of the chiefs of the two factions, was thought fufiicient for its government, without any forms or legal folernnities. The {lability of the government, and the fecurity nf the lives, liberties and pro- perties of the people was proportionate to fuch a fyflern. The court was ftill agitated with divi* liens and diffentions.
The Guifes , who had obtained but a fmall part of their preteniions ; that is to fay, much in ap-^ pearance and little in reality ; accuflomed to rule, and very difcontented with the government and with the Queen, who failed to perform the prom- ifes fiie had made to them watched all opportu- nities to regain their firil advantages. The Prince of Conde, more irritated than ever, kept in view his ancient projects, and ,burned with an implacable defire of vengeance. The Colignies were obftinate to protect the Hugonots. The two parties labored to gain the Conftable, but he declared that he would remain neuter, and attach
himfelf
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 177
himfelf only to the King and the Queen. He wis confirmed in this refolution by the conduct of the King of Navarre, who, fatisfied with the prefcnt arrangement, lived in good intelligence with the regent, and thought of nothing but peace. The Admiral, his brothers, and the Prince of Conde, flattered themfelves that the connection of blood would draw the Conftable, ultimately to their party. The Guifet, who knew his attachment to the Catholic faith, and his averfion to Calvinifm, which he had cruelly per- fecuted under Henry lid, defpaired not to gain, him, under the pretext of defending religion, and exterminating the Hugonots. The vivacity of the King of Navarre, in urging the Queen to accomplifli the promifes me had made him in fa- vor of the Hugonots, contributed not a little to keep up this fermentation. This Princefs, fatif- fied with having eftabliihed a kind of equilibrium, which fecured her power and that of her children, dreaded to intercept it, and avoided all occafions of difpleafing the King of Navarre.
She made ufe of delays and pretexts, in hopes that the King of Navarre would relax ; but that Prince, excited and tranfported beyond the bounds of his character, by the continued infti- gations of his brother, and the Admiral, and by the urgent folicitations of the Queen his confort, became the more ardent in demanding what had been promiied him. The Chancellor De L'Hopi- 1al, whether he judged a liberty of confcience neceilary to the good of the ftate, or whether he had an inclination to Calvinifm, favored, under hand, the folicitations of the King of Navarre. He reftrained with all his authority, the feverity of the other magistrates, and exhorted the Queen Y to
i}3 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
to be fparing of blood, to leave confciences in tranquility, and to avoid every thing which- might interrupt a peace, which had coft fo much pains to eftablifn. Several of thofe who compo- fed the council, iupported thefe inftances of the King of Navarre, and protefted that they ought to be weary of imbruing their hands in the blood of Frenchmen ; and that it was time to put an end to punifhments, the fear of which forced fo many good fubjects to abandon their houfes, fa- milies and country. The Kugonots themfelves, among whom were many perfons of ienfe and merit, neglected no cares nor means proper to favor their caufe ; and fometimes by writing compofed with art, and fkiifully propagated ; fometimes by petitions prefented in proper fea- fons ; and fometimes by periuafive difcourfes of their partizans, endeavored to imprefs the great in their favor, by pathetic paintings of the mis- fortunes with which they were opprefTed. The Queen was, at length, obliged to give way to the fcntiments and authority of fo many perfons. Perhaps fhe was convinced of the wifdom of re- laxing a feverity, which fhe was in no condition to maintain ; and of abandoning laws, wrhich they could no longer execute with rigour. She ?J /- h confented therefore to an Edict, rendered by the <* °/ *** council on the sSth of January. This EdicT: en- joined all magiftrates to releafe all the prifoners arrefled, on account of religion ; to flop all pro- fecutions commenced for this caufe ; to hinder difputes upon matters of faith ; forbidding indi- viduals to give each other the odious appellations -of Heretics or Papifts : finally, to prevent unlaw- ful aflemblies, commotions, feclitions, and main- tain concord and peace in all their departments*
Thus,.
DISCOURSES ON D.-WILA. 179
Thus, with the defign of putting an end to pun- iftiments and the effufion uf blood, a motive die- tated by religion and humanity, Calvinii'm was, if not permitted, at Icaft tolerated, and indirectly authorifed.
More lively contentions were expected con- cerning the promife which reflected the Gitlfes. The King of Navarre, recalling to the Queen the iecret promifes which fhe had made to him, pre- tended, that in his quality of lieutenant-general of the kingdom, they ought to deliver to him . ,. /a/-
the keys of the palace which the Duke of Gulfs J^ n*i**/* kept, as grand m.iiter of the King's houfehold. *-»««•
The Queen, in truth, no longer doubted the attachment of the King of Navarre, and of the Conflable ; but fhe was not ignorant of the in- creafing coldnefs of the Guifes, and delayed with all her artifice ;the moment of offending them. She wifhed, on one hand, to manage the Hugo- nots, protected by the Admiral and the Prince of Conde ; and on the other, the Cathoiieks, united under the Duke of Guife and the Cardinal of Lorraln. Thefe two factions, were like two powerful dikes, under the fhelter of which, fhe enjoyed a calm. By weakening the Cathoiieks, Hie was afraid of putting the Hugonots in a con- dition to give her the law. Sometimes by tem- porizing, therefore, and fometimes by granting other favors to the King of Navarre, flie endea- vored to divert him from this pretenfion. But the more fhe endeavored to make him lofe fight of this object, the more the Prince puriued it v/ith warmth.
Finally, the Queen, that fhe might not deftroy the harmony fhe had taken fo much pains to ef- tablilh, commanded the captains of the guards,
JIG
(1*4
jgo DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
no longer to carry the keys of the palace to the grand matter of the King's houfe-hold, but to the lieutenant-general of the kingdom, to whom this prerogative belonged of right. This proceeding irritated the Duke of Guife, but infinitely more the Cardinal of Lorrain, his brother, lefs becaufe they conlidered it as an affront, from which the regulation of the council of regency would have fcreened them, than becaufe they faw clearly, that with the confent of the Queen, the King of Na- varre afpired to diflrefs, and cleftroy them. They knew very well that they were accufed of liften- ing to nothing but their intereft and ambition,, and feeing themfelves no longer able to prevail in this private quarrel with the Princes of the blood, who difpofed of all the forces, as well as of the royal authority, they diffembled their re- fentments, and complained of nothing but the liberty of confcience, which had been tacitly granted to the Hugonots, covering thus with the fpecious veil, and the pretext of religion, their paffions and perfonal interefts. Thus the difcords of the great confounded themfelves in- fenfibly with the differences of religion, and the factions of the Princes, quitting the name of /• malcontents and Guifards, to affume the more
jfk 1 " impofmg titles of Catholics and Hugonots, they
s it, A / exerted themfelves with the greater fury, as they 6^ i difguifed it under the names of zeal and of piety.
rfhe regent and the Conftable, mailers of the perfon and authority of the King, held the bal- ance in the middle. The Conftable was indeed much oppofed to Calvinifm, and attached to the Catholic religion ; neverthelefs, his affection for his nephews, and the love of peace, induced him to confent to make ufe of management in matters
of
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 181
of religion, until the King fliould arrive at his majority. But to corroborate more and more, the authority of the young monarch, though a minor, thole who held the reins of government thought proper to conduct him to Reims, where they preServe with veneration, the Phial which a°}k<. pigeon brought down from heaven, full of holy oil, with °^ •which Clovis was anointed and confecrated.
During the ceremony of consecration, there arofe a new conteft concerning precedency, be- tween the Princes of the blood and the Duke of Giiife. The former pretended that it was due to their birth. The Duke on his fide demanded it, as firft peer of France. The council of State de- cided it in favor of the Duke of 'Guife, becaufe the prefence of the peers of France, who are twelve in number, fix ecclefiaflical and fix laical, was ne- <*•«"* ceffary in this ceremony ; whereas, the Princes of the blood, who have no funclicn to difcharge in it, may difpenfe with their attendance. This light fpark ferved to inkindle and embitter more aud more, the Spirits of all parties. The Admi- ral and Prince of Conde had Set every machine in motion to draw in the Conftable to their intereft : They were powerfully feconded by the Marfhal of Montmorcnci, his eldeft Son, who was ftrictly connected with them. The Conftable, always firm in his refolutions, could not determine to difhonor his old age, by placing himfe'fatthe head of a party, nor by leagueing himfelf with thofewhom he thought new enemies of religion. The Admiral, always fruitful in refources and ex- pedients, imagined one at this time, calculated to bring the Conftable into their views, by ways tnore indirect. There was then held at Pontoife, an afiembly of Some deputies of the Provinces, to
deliberate
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
deliberate upon the means of acquitting the im- menfe debts, which the crown had contracted in the laft wars. The Marfhal of Montmorsn'd pre- iided in it. There were allb fome friends of the Admiral. He made ufe of them, to bring upon the carpet, whatever he thought proper. The Colignies and the Prince of Conde^ there demand- ed, by the organ of their confidents, that they fiiould oblige all thofe who had received benefits or gratifications, from the Kings Francis Ift and Henry lid, to report them to the royal treafury, pretending, that a calculation being made, with- / out impofing new burthens, they might extin- ttornd guifh the greateft part of the debt, which both ' within and without the kingdom, crufhed the
ftate and individuals.
Thofe who had received the greateft benefac- tions from the late Kings, were the Gulfes, Diana. of Valentinois, the Marfhal Saint Andre, and the Conftable. They were defirous indeed of hum- bling the former : but as to the latter, they meant only to infpire him with fears and jeal- oufies, and to force him to join the party of the Princes ; that he might not expofe. himfelf to lofe the fruit of fo many years of 'fervices and toils. The animofity of faction was fo lively, that the Colignies were not afraid to excite in their uncle thofe chagrins and inquietudes. But this ilep had the ordinary fortune of defigns too fubtle and too refined. It produced an effect di- rectly contrary to that which was intended. The propofition amounted to nothing lefs, than. to take away from the Conftable and the Guifes, the greateft part of their property. Diana, of Val- entinois, with whom both parties had formed alliances, began to fecund the Conftable, concern- ing
•***
DISCOURSES ON DA VILA.
ing this rcfcarch, which intcrefted them equally, She concerted her plan with art, or a kind of prudence, which is not uncommon in women of her character ; her avcriion for the Queen, and her fears of lofmg all the gains of her trade, made her think that the. true means of her fafe- ty, would be to allure the Conftable into the party of the CathoUc religion, and a clofer con- nection with the Guifes. She launched out \i\\.vA H invectives againft the Admiral and the Prince of^*-», Coude, whom me confideredas the authors of th proportion made at the affembly at Pontoife ; ihe deplored the miferics of the ftate, whofe « government, in the hands of a child and a fo-
O *
reign woman, was the inftrument of pernicious councils, to foment the ambition and gratify the pailions of certain individuals, to whom were iacrificed the fafety and tranquility of th^king- dom ; into which they introduced, without ihame, herefies condemned by the Church, and againft which the late Kings, with juft feverity, had employed fire and fword. She added, with the fame vivacity, and fmcerity, that all France was aftonifhed and enraged, to fee, that a Mont- morcnci, whofe houfe had been the firft of the whole nation to embrace Chriftianity ; that a man, who for fo long a time had filled the lirfl office in the ftate, fhould at prefent allow him- fcif to be fafcinated by the artifices of a woman ; and that, a Have to her caprices, and to the im- perfecl information of the King of Navarre, he confented to all their cntcrprizes againft religion. She remonftrated to the Conftable, that having the arms and the power in his hands, he was in- difpenfibly obliged to oppofe the pernicious de- figns of government, and to watch ftill, as Ke
had
1 84 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
had done fo many times before, over the confer- vation of a tottering throne, and a religion wholly forfaken. She recalled to his recollection that ancient conduct which had procured him fo much glory, in oppofmg the aggrandizement of ftrahgers. She conjured him that he would not fufter two women, one an Italian, the other of Navarre, to ruin the principal foundations of the French Monarchy ; that is to fay, religion and piety ; to remember that the regent was the fame Catharine, whofe conduct he had always cenfur- ed, and whofe character he detefted ; that the Hugonots were thofe fame fectaries, whom he had fo eagerly perfecuted under Henry lid ; that neither the perfons nor the nature of things were changed ; that the whole world would believe, that enfeebled by age, he let himfelf be guided, either by the ambition or caprice of others, fmce he appeared fo different from what he had been. Such was the language of Diana, and who fo pr0per as an harlot, to proititute religion to the purpofes of ambition, avarice, and faction. ^ The only wonder is, that thefe difcourfes of the Dutchefs, which me took care frequently to re- peat, began to make an impreffion on the- Con- ifable. Sometimes an indignation againft his nephews, fometimes the apprehenfions of lofmg his fortune, and fometimes his hatred againft •Calvinifm, fo difpofed him to liften to the Dutch- efs, that at length her infinuations, together -with thofe of 'Magdalen of Savoy, his wife, fuc- ceeded to detach him from the party of the i Co*d*J>L* queen. This Magdalen faw with vexation the unbounded favors granted to the CJtgnies, which fiie wiftied might be conferred on her brother Honors, of Savoy, Marquis of Villars. Thus her
jealoufy
curl
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 185
jealoufy neglected nothing to fcrve the latter, and to .hurt the nephews of her hufband. Diana alfo, engaged the Marfhal de Saint Andre to fecondSk S her in this negotiation. The fear of lofing his fortune, the violent hatred which he conceived againft the Golignies, and the plauiible pretext o£ preferving the Catholic faith, urged him to em- ploy his influence with the Conftable in favor of the Guifes ; who, as foon as they were informed of it, omitted neither artifices, fubmiffions nor intrigues, to compleat the conqueft ; hoping by this means to re-eftablim their power, or at Jeaft to recover a great part of it. The "Marfhal o Montmorcnd was the only one who could crofs this negotiation. But Diana, "his wife, having fallen lick at Chantilly, he was obliged to leave his father, to attend her. The Guifes, difembar- raiTed of this obftacle, put the laft hand to their agreement with the Conftable, for the preferva- tion of the Catholic religion and the mutual de- fence of their fortunes.
The Queen informed of this union, thought herfelf deprived of her firmed fupport, and dread- ed, that the Princes of Lorrain, fupported by the credit of the Conftable, and difcontented with her, might attempt to take from her the regency. She thought it neceffary therefore, to conneft herfelf more ftrictly with the King of Navarre, to counterbalance this new party. She directed all her cares to maintain that equilibrium, which allured her power, and that of her fon. She en- tered into all the views of the King of Navarre, in favor of the Hugonots. Under the'pretext of maintaining peace during the minority of the King, and of conciliating the hearts of the people, by a reputation of clemency, flic pubiifhed new z declarations,
ai-n
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
declarations, which enjoined upon all the ments and all the other magistrates of each pro- vince, to moleft no man on account of religion ; to reftore the goods, houfes and poffeflions to all thofe, who, in times paft, had been depriv- ed of them, on fufpicion of herefy. The par- liament of Paris, and fome other magiftrates re- fufed to comply : but the Hugonots, thinking themfelves authorized by the will and orders of the King, of the regent, and the difpofitions of the council, aiTumed to themfelves, as they had a better right to do from God and nature, a liber- ty of confcience, and their numbers and forces- augmented from day to day. This was to ful- fil the views of the Queen, if thefe religionifts had known how to reftrain themfelves within the bounds of moderation and reafon. But as it commonly happens to people, who fufTer them- felves to be tranfported by their paflions, and will not conform to the reftraints of authority : as foon as they felt themfelves tolerated, protect- ed, and delivered from the fear of punifhment, their refentments of former ill ufage arofe, they loft the reipecl due to the magiftrates, and fome- times by public affemblies, and fometimes by in- jurious difcourfes, or other violent proceedings, they drew upon themfelves the hatred and indig- nation of the Gatholicks. Hence arofe obftinate diiputes, which throwing the two parties into quarrels, ipread tumult and iRiurrections thro all the provinces of the kingdom. Thus, con- trary to the intentions of government, and the expectations of the public, the remedy employed to fave the ftate and maintain peace, became, at leaft as our Hiftorian reprefents, contagious and prejudicial ; and occafioned precifely thofe trou- bles
01Mr*/n
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 187
bles and dangers, which they fought fo carefully to prevent.
The Guifes, we may be fare were not at all mortified at this turn of affairs. It was precifely what they wilted. Encouraged and fortified by their union with the Conftable, they feized this occafion to oppofe the Queen and the King of , Navarre. The Cardinal of Lor rain finding the« moment favorable to explaim himfelf in council without regard to the C)ueen or the King of Na- varre, who were prefent, began to fpeak on the fcate of religion, and to reprefent, with all the vehemence of his character, that it was to betray religion, and to dilhonor themfelves in the eyes of the whole earth, to grant, in a moft chriftian kingdom, liberty of confcience, to innovators al- ready condemned by councils and the voice of the church. That not fatisfied with dilTeminat- ing monftrous opinions, with corrupting the rif- kig generation, and impofing on the fimplicity of the weak, they blow up the fire of rebellion in all the provinces of the kingdom. That al- ready the infolence and outrages of thefe Here- tics, hindered the minifters of the church from celebrating mafs, and from appearing in their pulpits, and left to the magistrates- fcarce a fha- dow of authority ; that every thing was a prey to the fword and flames, by the imprudence and obftinacy of thofe who arrogated to themfelves the licence of believing and teaching at their pleafure ; that the iirft kingdom of Chriftendorn was upon the point of making a fchifin, of mak- ing off the yoke of obedience due t© the holy fee, and of abandoning the Catholic faith, to fatisfy the caprice of an handful ot feditious men. The Cardinal, enforced thefe arguments with fo
much
i«8 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
much energy, with that confidence and natural eloquence which gave him fuch an afcendancy, even in the moft problematical opinions, that the protectors of the Hugonots oppofed nothing to him but filence. The King of Navarre and the Queen replied not a word, and even the Chan- cellor appeared amazed and confounded. The counfellorsofftate, irritated againft the Hugonots, were of opinion to aflemble immediately all the Princes and officers of the crown=, to the parlia- ment of Paris, there to treat on this fubjecl, in the preferice of the King, and determine the means of curing thele diforders. This affembly was accordingly held on the i3th of July, 1561, In parliament. The King of Navarre dared not '/. alone to make uppoiition openly ; this would have been to declare himfelf a Calvinift. The Queen indeed, defired that the Catholic party fliould not prevail ; but fhe was not the leis ap- prehenfive that they would impute to her thfe eftabliftiment and progrefs of Herefy. The con- tcfts in parliament were however, animated : the partizans of the Hugonots, forgot nothing to procure them liberty of confcience, as tfre only means proper to appeafe all troubles, and heal all divifions. Their efforts were ufelefs. There was fome reafon for faying, that liberty of confcience was evidently oppofed to the fpirit and authority of the Catholic church ; but none at ail for pre- tending that it was contrary to the fundamental laws of the kingdom.
„,. La. ^ was ^ecided that the Calviniflical preachers l"itj," anc* miRifters Should be chafed out of the king- dom : and that they mould conform in the pub- lic worfhip, only to the cuftoms and ceremonies authorized by the Roman church. All affem.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 189
blies, of every kind and in every place, arm .7 or without, except in the Catholic es, there to hear divine fervice, according to their ufages, were forbidden. To grant, how- ever, fome mitigation to the Hugonots, they ad- ded in the fame Edict, that the cognizance of the crime of Herefy, mould be refer ved to Bifhops and their grand Vicars ; and if they had recourie to the iecular arm, they could not condemn the guilty, but to banifhment ; finally, they gave a general amnefty for all diforders committed in times paft, on account of religion. A declara- tion was drawn, figned by the King, the Queen, and all the Princes and lords of both parties.
The Prince of Cojideznd the Admiral, irritated to fee fuppreffed a party, upon whofe number and forces they had founded all their hopes, and not being able to hinder the execution of the Edict, which all the parliaments and mod of the inferior tribunals preiled into execution with great ar- dor, imagined another expedient ; it was to en- gage the minifters of 'the Hugonots to demand a public conferrence, in prefence of the King, with the Catholic Prelates, upon the controvert- ed points. This indirect method appeared to them proper to obtain inlenlibly, a liberty of confcience. The Cardinal de Tourncn^ud fever- al other Catholic Prelates, oppofed this requeft ; they remonftrated that it was ufelefs to difpute about religion, with a people who were very ob- ftinate, and who perfifted in a doctrine condemn- ed by the church. That if they wiflied to lay open their reafons, they might addrefs thejnfelves to the council of Trent. The Cardinal of Lorrain was of opinion in favor of the conference ; whether he flattered himfelf that he fliould con- found
r.$o DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
found the Hugonots, by his irrefiftable reafonmg, and convince thofe whom he thought feduced, or whether, as thofe who envied him gave out, by making an oftentatious exhibition of his elo- quence and erudition, he wiflied ftill further to jncreafe his reputation and glory, in fo celebrated an affembly : Whatever were his intentions, it is certain that by not oppoiing the demand of the Proteftants, he draws into his fentiment the prelates, who yielded to the felicitations of the King of Navarre. This Prince, who had long defired to hear a difpute in form, between the Catholics and Hugonots, to clear up his own doubts, fupported with warmth the demand of the Proteftants. They fent therefore fafe con- duels to the minifters refugees at Geneva, and affigned for the place of conference Poify, a little city, five leagues from Paris.
The King appeared at Poify, with all his court, accompanied by the Cardinals of Bourbon, of Lor- rain, of Tournon, of Armagnac^ and of Guife, who were to affift at the conference on the part of the Catholics. The moft diftinguimed Bifhops and Prelates, feveral Doctors of the Sorbonne, and other Theologians of the moft celebrated univer- iities of the kingdom, were prefent. There ap- peared on the iide of the Hugonots, Theodore Be-za^ Peter Martyr Wermilly, Francis de Saint Paul, "John Raymond^ John Virel, with feveral others, who came from Geneva, or Germany. Bc%a ex- plained his doctrines, with great pomp of elo- quence ; and the Cardinal of Lorrain anfwered him, with what he called proofs and authorities, drawn from the Scriptures and the fathers of the Church. The council judged proper to with- draw the young Kiusr, becaufe the tendernefs qf
tj U .
his
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. i<?t
his age not permitting him to difcern the truth, there was reafon to fear, that he might be iur- prized b^i'ome dangerous opinion, contrary to the faith. After feveral 'debates, the afiembly feparated without deciding any thing.
The Cotholics gained only one advantage. The King of Navarre was not fatislied with the Hugonots, having obferved fome variations of their minilters in the doctrines which they main- tained. Some followed literally the fentiments of Calvin ; others inclined to the doctrine of Luther ; thefe adhered to the profeflion of faith of the Swifs, thole to the confeflion oiAugJbourg. Shocked with this inconfiftency, as he thought it, this weak Prince began to be difgufled with the new opinions, and to attach himfeif to the Catholic religion. But the Hugonots drew from this conference all the fruit that they had prom- ifed themfelves. As foon as they came out of it, they boafted highly that they had demonftrated the truth of their belief, convinced the Catholic doctors, confounded the Cardinal of Lorrain, and obtained of the King permifiion to preach their doctrine. In fact, of their own private authori- ty, they began to aflemble, wherever they pleaf- ed, to hold publickly their fermons, with fo great an affluence of people, and fo great a concourie of nobility, as well as others, that it was no long- er pofiible to reftrain them.
When the magiftrates attempted to hinder their aflemblies, or the Catholics attempted to chafe them from the churches where they met, the Hugonots run to arms, and defended them- ielves. The two parties attacked each other with fury, under the names of Hugonots and Papifts. The whole kingdom was in a flame.
The
DISCOURESS ON DAVILA.
The- power of- the inagiilrates loft its energy 5 the people were in continual terror and alarms j the collection of the revenues was interrupted, and in the bofom or peace, an inteftine and cruel v/ar was feen to be inkinclled. Hie Queen-Mo- ther and the King or Navarre, moved with thefe exceffes, feeing that the, feverity of the Edict of July, had only increafed the diforders, convoked another affembly of deputies from all the p-rlia- ments of the kingdom, to be informed by them, oftheftate of each province,. and to deliberate upon the moft proper means of re eftablifhing tranquility. 1"be views of the miniftry changing continually, as the inter ejh cfminijlers and the paj/tons of the great varied ; it wa's not aftonifhing^ that after fo many meafurcs taken, abandoned, reajfiiined^ affairs Jhouldftill remain in greater diforder, and a more Jt range confuficn. It was indeed impoffible that fuch frequent variations mould reftore good order, which an equal and uniform conduct could alone maintain.
This affembly was holden at Paris, in the be- ginning of the year 1562. The Queen, accord- ing to her ordinary maxims, employed herfelfin holding the balance between the two parties, and to hinder one from prevailing over the other, for fear me mould be the victim of the ftrongeft. The greateft part of the magiftrates concurred in her viewrs ; fome perfuaded that it was impoliible to reftrain fo great a multitude, animated by a furious zeal for religion, and others feeing vvith regret fo much blood fhcd to no good purpofe. They prepared that famous Edict of January, 91 which granted to the Hugonots, the liberty of 1 u Y confcience, and the liberty of holding their affem- ~ ^' and preaching their fermons, upon condition
that
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 193
that they fhouki meet without arms, without the. cities, in the fields, and in prefence of the judges of the places. The parliaments and other tribunals oppofed, at firft, the execution of this Edict ; but it was finally regiftered, upon repeated letters of jufiion, (fealed com- mands to do a thing which they had refufed to do) of the King and Council. This was a thunder bolt to the chiefs of the Catholic party. To bring on a crifis, to force all the Catholics to join them, arid to hinder the execution of the Edict, the Duke of Guife, the Conftable, all the Cardinals, except de Tournon, who was lately •dead, the Marmals de Erljjac and Saint Andre quitted the court, to oppoie themfelvcs with all their forces to the Calviniftical party. So near was liberty of confcience at that time, to a corn- pleat and final eftablifhment in France, that noth- ing but this violent meafure could have prevent- ed it ; even this retreat of all the Catholics would not have fucceeded, without another ar- tifice. They fuificiently forefaw, that as long as the good intelligence fubiifted between the Queen-mother and the King of Navarre, they fliould have no power to intermeddle in the government of the kingdom, and that all their ciforts would be in vain ; they propofed therefore to break it. Convinced that the Queen-mother would never change her plan or her conduct, at leaft until the majority of her fon j they thought it would be more eafy to gain upon the under- ft'anding of the king of Navarre. Their recefs enabled them to conduct with more fecrecy this negociation, which required time and addrefs. f />£/?, legate of the Pope, and Manriquiz am-»& bailador of Spain, let into the fecret and entruiled j\i em nq, A a with
194 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
with the conduct of it, eafily commenced the conferences, by the interpofition of the confidents of the King of Navarre. This weak Prince, had, or pretended to have, no longer the fame incli- nation for the Hugonots, fince the colloquy at ,. Poifly, where he had remarked their variations
0 '/<•"/ -upon the contefted points of faith, and not hav- ing found in Theodore Beza, nor in Peter Martyr, the fame confidence as he thought, as they affect- ed when they dogmatized without contradictors, he had confulted Doctor Baudonin, equally vcrfed. in fcriptures and in controverfy. This theolo- gian had decided the King of Navarre, to re-unite himielf to the faith of the church, and to adopt neither the profeflion of faith of the Swifs Protef- tants, nor the confeflion of Augfbourg. His ac- quiefcence in the Edict of January was lefs from any inclination to the Hugonots, than from an opinion that confciences ought not to be reftrain- ed, and that toleration was an infallible means of extinguilhing the troubles of the kingdom. As ibon as his confidents, already difpofed to ferve the Catholic party, had informed the legate and ambaffador, that he was in this temper, thefe laft failed not to take advantage of it, to open the negotiation. In order to unite to motives or" confcience, peifonal advantages and temporal in- terefts, they propofed to him to divorce his' Queen Jane, with a difpenfation from the Pope, becaufe ihe was 'an Heretic, and to marry Mary, Queen of Scots., the niece of the Guifes, and widow of Francis lid, a Princefs who united to the charms of youth and beauty, the actual poiTefiion of a great kingdom. The King of Navarre, attached to his children, rejected firmly this propofition. They then brought upon the carpet, once more,
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
riic exclrmgc of Sardinia, fo often propofed in vain. This was the delicate point, which touch- ed him the mod fenfibly. His hopes indeed, were not very ftrong ; but this negotiation not having been wholly broken oflf, Manriquez, the Spaniih ambaflador, by his ordinary artifice, re- newed it with fo much apparent ferioufneis, as to re-animate the delires and the confidence of the King of Navarrq. Not content with giving him the ftrongeft afTurances of the good difpo- iitions of die Catholic King, he proceeded fo far as to treat of the means of exchange, and of the quality of the rents and fervices, which the King of Navarre Ihould render the crown of Spain, as acknowledgments of its fovereignty. They debated thefe claufes .and conditions as ferioufly, as if they were upon the point of iigning the treaty. The character of the King of Navarre, and his inclination to embrace always the moft honorable an,d plaufible meafures, favored the deiigns of the .Catholics.
This Prince (the King of Navarje,) began gravely to acknowledge that the Hugonots dif- guiied their paffions and their interefts, under the veil of chrifdan charity, and the cloak of re- ligion. Moreover, he was made to apprehend that the Admiral, with his policy, would per- iuade all France to believe that the Kin^; of Na-
O
varre followed blindly his councils. They piqued his jealoufy, by reprefenting to him that the (Calvinifts highly blamed his floth and indolence, while all their affections and attachments were to .the Prince of Conde., whofe courage, promptitude, and magnanimity, they never ceafed to exalt and celebrate. A laft consideration of extreme im- portance, touched a nerve of exquifite fenfibility :
196 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
The King of France and his brothers were of feeble and delicate complexions, ill conftituted, fubjec"l to dangerous diitempers, and too young to have children. The fucceffion to the crown, regarded him as the ' firft Prince of the blood, and to declare himfelf the head and protector of the Hugonots, was to place between the throne and him., an impenetrable barrier. To fmosth his way the more eafily to the throne, he inclined to re-unite himfelf to the Catholic party, to at- tract the favor of the Pope and the King of Spain, and to attach to himfelf the forces of the faction, which was the belt united, and the moft powerful. He began to diftruft the councils of the Queen his wife, blindly devoted to Calvinifm, and naturally an enemy of pacific meafures. The magnificent promifes and perfualive difcourfes of the legate, and of Manriquez, joined to fo many other motives, determined him finally to unite himfelf with the Conftable and the Duke of Guife. They declared loudly in words and by C writings, that they were leagued only for the ft. Defence of the Catholic religion ; but their views fwerq, in reality, much more vaft. The King of Navarre abandoned one party, in which he found himfelf eclipfed by his brother, to attach himfelf to another, in which they offered him more brilliant hopes. And the Guifes entered into this convention, only to re-eftabliih their credit and ancient grandeur.
Such was the union, which taught the French the art of forming leagues and combinations, without the knowledge of their fovereigns. The Hugonots reprefented it in the moft odious co- lours, and called it the triumvirate. The Queen Jane conceived a lively refentrnent of this unex- pected
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 197
pelted resolution of her hufband. Full of indig- nation to fee him become the moft ardent pcrle- cutor of her iavorite religion, in which ilie flat- tered herfclf flic had confirmed him ; ihe refolv- ed to quit the court, and retired into Beam, with the Prince Henry, and the Princefs Catharine, H c/v\ru her children, wliom me initYucled in the reform- ed religion, declining" all further ibciety, and commerce with her huiband. The Queen-mother was not lefs alarmed with a change to iudden and incredible. The trium-vlratc dcftro\cd all the prQJcfls of an equilibrium^ which jhc Lad founded, on the dijlrujh and ammojiiics ivbich divided the gran- dees. She dreaded as much, for the iafety other children, as for her o\vn authority. Thefe reci- procal variations, thefe combinations of interefis, totally oppoiite to each other, announced clearly enough to her underftandir.g, that this union concealed high hopes, and vaft defigns. She knew that the Guifes had unravelled her artifices, and that burning with ambition, they fought every means of re entering into the mini'tiy. Moreover, what probability was there, that the King of Navarre would renounce the frienclflnp of his brother, and of his moft faithful partizans, to unite with his moil cruel enemies, if he had not been aflured of great advantages in iuch a change. She was not ignorant of the empire which is held over human hearts, even the rnoii upright, by ambition and the thirft of ruling. Finally, conddering every thing which threatened her, (he could not diffemble her own weaknefs, nor that of her children. Forced by thele re- flections to truft no longer, either the iincerity of the King of Navarre, nor the deinonilrations inade by the Catholics, of having no defign of
making
198 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
making any innovation in the government ; a prey to conftant terrors, alarms and fufpicions, nothing was capable of calming her inquietude. She palled often whole nights, in conference with her confidents, and among others with the Bifhop of Valance^ and the Chancellor DC L'Hopital : Their counfels, and above all, the critical pofition in which ihe ftood, determined her to form a coalition with the Prince of Conde and the Admi- ral, to favor their defigns, and fupport herfelf with their forces, in order to counterbalance, as much as poffible, the power of the oppofite faction : alledging among other motives, to her Catholic confidents, that God himfelf permits evil for the fake of good : and fince the Hugonots Iiad caufed fo many diforders, it was but juit to make ufe of them, to. cure the diftempers which had infected the heart of theftate.
The Hugonots delivered from the fear of pun- ifhment, by the publication of the Edict of fan- nary, had began to recover courage, and held frequently public aflemblies ; their party appear- ed confiderable, both by their number and the quality of their members : and their forces were not inconfiderable. The Prince of Conde had openly declared himfelf their head ; he was, ia. appearance, reconciled with the GuifcSj in obe- dience to the orders of the King : but, in his heart he burnt with an impatient defire to re- venge himfelf, againit his principal perfecutors, for the outrages which he had received. The Admiral, who in the view to aggrandize himfelf, as well as his brothers, more ftrictly united than ever to the party of the Hugonots, moderat- ed the ardor and vehemence of the Prince, by the maturity of his counfels. Under thefe chiefs,
and
DISCOURSES' ON DAVIL A.
and in the fame fentimerits, were engaged the Prince of Porcien, the Lords of G<fw//>, of Gram- mout, of Duras, the Earls of Rccbcfou can't and of Mont 'gomcry , the Barons of Ardrcts, of Boncbavan- ties, boubirC) and icvcral other great men of the kingdom. With any, the leaft authority of go- vernment, they were in a condition to reiift, and oppofe boldly the oppoiite party.
The Queen, forced as me thought to take ad- vantage of a conjuncture fo favorable for her own defence, and th,at of her children ; and re- duced to the neceflity of embracing the firfl par- ty which prefented, however dangerous it might be, expected from time and events, the unravel- ling: ^h1 their intrigue. She feigned to be ftacr-
o o o o
gered by the reaibnings of the Hugonots, and difpofed to embrace their opinions. To confirm them me was more in this opinion, by exterior demonftrations, fae caufed their minifters to come into her apartment, and appeared to hear them with pleafure. She manifeiled great confi- dence and benevolence to the Admiral, and the Prince of Conde, in the frequent converfations fhe had with them. She deceived the Dutchcfs of Mohtpen/ter, by her faife confidences, and made ufe of her, to allure the principal Hugonots ; the better to color the promifcs and hopes, which me gave in fecret, by apparent meafures. She wrote even to the Pope in equivocal terms. Some- times flic demanded a free and general council,
O
fuch as the Calvinifts defired : ibmetimes, per- miillon to convoke a national council. Another time me folicited the ufe of the communion in both kinds, a clifpenfation to prieils to marry ; the liberty ot praying in the vulgar language, and other fimihr innovations, as the Catholic-*
called
sco COURSES ON DAVILA.
cuil-jd u::m, which the Hugonots wifhed, 2nd introduced. D<; L///V, the French ambafiador at Rome, Iccondcd her fo perfectly, that, by excit- ing doubts concerning her faith in the minds of the Pope and the Catholics, flue obliged them to obfervo great caution in their own conduct, for tear they ihould irritate her, and difguft her ap-ainft the Roman religion. By the fame artifice iae deceived the penetration, and gamed the hearts of the Hugonots, by perfuadirg them that fhe was wholly difpofed in their favor : to fuch a degree., that the implacable hatred which they once bore her, had given place to confidence and attachment. It was not only the people that Hie ainufed by thele appearances : the Admiral hirnielf, in fpight of all his appearance, policy and penetration, had fufiered himfelf to be feduced. He heiitatecl not to give the Queen a circurnftan- cial account of the number, forces and deiigns of the CalviniftSj of the correfpondences which they maintained, both within and without the king- dom, and of all other particulars which concern- ed his party ; as foon as fhe gave him to under- Hand, that ihe defired to have exact information before ihe declared herfelf, alluring him that fhe would embrace openly that party, as foon as it mould be f uffkiently powerful to place her out of the reach of the vengeance of the Catholics and the triumvirate, compofed of the Duke of O//V, the Conftable and the King of Navarre. '] bus. by a change equally prompt and incredible, the King -of Navarre attached himfeif to the Catholic party, and Queen Catharine, at leaft in 4 j.irance, became favorable to the Hucronots.
i L ' *~J
'i'hefc variations were at the time attributed to the levity of mind of the King of Navarre, and
the
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 30i
the natural inconftancy of the fex of the Queen : and it is thus that fome Hiftorians have fmce judged, who were either not capable, or had not opportunity, like Davila, to unravel the fecret fprings of thefe reiblut.ions.
Is it pofiible to place an unbalanced govern, ment, in a light more defpicabie or more con- temptible ! Can human nature be more difgraced, than by this endlefs feries of unions, feparations, coalitions, combinations and tergiverfations ? And yet it is moft obvious, that fuch a feries muft forever be the effed of a con&itution, where there is no legal equilibrium.
No. 24*
AFFAIRS had now taken a new face. It was' eafy to forefee, that the animofities^)f the two factions would never be extinguimed but by- arms — and that the tempeft which had long grumbled in the air, would foon pour upon theic heads. Accident foon produced a favorable con- juncture for precipitating France into the greateft misfortunes. The King of Navarre, having fa- ,Vct dared himfelf openly for the Catholic party, fixed his refidence at Paris. This city, fituated in the centre of France, is much more populous, more rich, more magnificent and more powerful, than any other in the kingdom. ThisJPrince, believ- ing that the other cities would eafily conform to the example of the capital, forgot nothing to B b hinder
202 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
hinder the Hugonots from holding their aflem- blies, and preaching their fermons there ; in which the Parifians in general, enemies of the information, feconded him with zeal. By this means he hoped in time to diminifh infenfibly the credit and the forces of the Proteftants, and take away their liberty of confcience, which a- lone fupported their exiftence. The Prince of Conde refklecl alfo at Paris, where he promoted a'nd fomented the defigns of the Hugonot mini- fters^ Under the pretext of caufing to.be obferv- ed the edict of January, he extended from day to day the liberty of confcience ; and, whether by power or by right, arrogated to himfelf a great authority. in what refpecfced the State. The King of Navarre, animated equally againft his brother by a love of repofe, and by jealoufy,. re- folved to compel him to go out of Paris. Several «% other motives determined him to put an end to troubles and feditions, as well as conventicles, in •a city which was. the lirmcft fupport of the Catholic party ;. but whether he felt himfelf too jak to auempt fuch an enterprize alone, or •whether he wiflied to coniult his confederates before he executed any thing, he invited the Duke of Guife and the Conftable to come and join hime with their partifans.
The Duke of Guife, ilnce his retirement from Court, refiJcd at Joinville, one of his country feats, upon the frontiers of Champalne and Pi- cardy. Upon the invitation of the King of Na- varrc, he departed for Paris, accompanied by the Cardinal his brother, a numerous retinue of gen- tlemen attached to his intereih, and two compa- nies of men in arms. The lirit of March, in the fjt morning, as he palled by Vaili, a little city in
'Champaine,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 203
Champaine, his people heard an unufual ringing of bells, and having alkcd the reafon of it, were told that it was the iignal of a fermon at which the Hugonots affembled. The valets and foot- men of the Duke, who were moft forward on the road, excited by the Angularity of the thing, and by curiofity to fee one of thefe affemblies,- which were but lately begun to be holden pub- licly, advanced in a tumult, uttering their coarfe jokes, towards the place where the Kugonots were affemMed to hear their minifters. The Calviniits underftanding that the Duke of Guile, whom they regarded as one of their moft ardent perfecutors, was not far off, and feeing a troop of his people coming directly to them, whether they dreaded fome infult, or whether they were piqued at the rude raileries and fcornful fpeeches of this fervile mob, they anfvvered by acts of vio- lence, pelting with ftones the firft who were adt yancing towards their congregation.
This is the account of Davila — and at this day it may be of as little confequence to enquire which fide began to ufe force, as to afcertain which party fired the firft gun at our Lexington. When a. nation is prepared for a civil war, when parties are formed and paflions enflamed-, which can be extinguished no other way, it is only for the fake of popularity, neceilary to enquire .which {hikes the firft blow. But in our American re- volution, we know it was the party who were in the habit of domineering \vho began — and iuch is commonly the cafe/ Moft probably DC Thou is in the right, for the fame reafon — who afferts, that the Duke of Guife's fervants threw the firft ftones ; and if this was done without the Duke's orders, it is certain that his mother,
a bigot ted
264 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA/
a bigotted furious Catholic, had often entreated him to deliver her from the neighbourhood of
Yn f J i *^e Proteftants of Vaili ; and very probably flie had enflamed his whole family againft them. However this might be, the Catholics abandoned all their prudence and attacked the Proteftants, fword in hand, and the fkirmifh foon become furious. The Duke, informed of the tumult, and wifliing to appeafe it, ran in all hafte and rumed into the midft of the cambatants — while he repremanded his own people, and exhorted the Hugonots to retire, he was ilightly wounded by the ftroke of a ftone upon his left jaw. The blood which he loft obliged him to retire from the uproar, when his followers, growing outra- geous, had recourfe to fire-arms, forced the houfe •where the Calvinifts had barricadoed themfelves,
L / 1 j killed more than fixty of them ; and their minif* ter, danareroufly wounded, efcaped with great
Tr^i& i r -11°.
difficulty over the roofs or the neighbouring houfes. When the commotion was affuaged, the Duke of Guife fent for the Judge of the place, and reprimanded him for tolerating fuch con* venticles. The Judge excufed himfelf, becaufe thefe affemblies were permitted by the edict of January. ; The Duke, as much enraged at this anfwer as at the diforder which occafioned it^ laid his hand on the hilt of his fword, and re- plied, with great fury,; " The edge of;this iron fhall foon deliver us from the edict which they c 3*0*, think fo folidly eftabliihed." Thefe words, utter- ed in the ardor of his indignation, did not efcape the attention 'of thofe who heard them— and in the fequel he was accufed of being the Boute-feu, and the author of the civil wars.
Huganots, irritated by the maffacre at Vaffi,
" - could
J\\
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
could no longer contain themfelves Within the bounds of moderation— not content with the ex- ceffes committed by them in feveral cities of the kingdom, and efpecially in Paris, where they had maffacred feveral Catholics, and let fire to the church of St. Medard ; they liftcned only to their own rage, and excited every where troubles and bloody feditions ; monafteries were pillaged, im- ages broken, altars overturned, and churches profaned. Thefe exceffes, on both fides, embit- tered mens* minds, and they rulhed everywhere 6g/h'fiflc> to arms, " The chiefs of the two parties, agitated by the fame motives, affembled their forces and prepared openly for war. But the leaders of both factions 'Were not ignorant that, in the ac- tual ftate of things, they could not take arms without rendering themfelves guilty of rebellion, and that there was neither pretext nor colour which could authorife any meafures which tend- ed to war.' The Catholics 'could not interrupt the execution of the edict of January, without controverting openly the decisions of the coun- cil, and wounding the royal authority from which this edict had iffued. The Hugonots had no reafonable motive to revolt, while they were protected and allowed to enjoy the liberty of confcience granted them by that edict. The leaders of each party defired to draio the King to their fide, and to become majlers of bis perfon, either to abolifh the edict, or to derive new advantages from it, in order to prove that their caufe was the moftjuft — and that it was the oppofite party which erected the ftandard of revolt, by oppoiing the apparent will of the Sovereign, and by at- tacking even his perlbn,
INo.
soS. DISCOURSES ON DAVILA*
No. 25.
0) - THE Queen, perfectly informed of all thef?
u e(tt ^projects, and wifhing to prefe.rve, with all her power, her own liberty and that of her children, '*f continued to playoff her artifices, to balance the power of the Grandees, and to prevent the afcendency of one party over the other, from drawing after it, the ruin of .the S,tate. Thus, that fhe might not be obliged to favor, one or the other party, fhe quitted Paris and retired to Fontainbleau. She thought that in this relidence, where fhe was more at liberty, than in Paris, they could not compel her to declare herfelf, and me ftill ftudied to fupport her confidence, which fhe had managed with both factions, whofe Chiefs ihe amufed by equivocal difcourfes, and ambigu- ous Promifes' The Prince of Conde, and Coligni, yielding to the fuperiority of the Catholic party, ]iaj quired Paris, to take arms. The Queen gave them fecretly to underftand, that fhe was difpofed to join them, as foon as fhe mould fee them fupported by forces fufficient to make head againft their enemies. On the other hand, fhe protefted to the King of Navarre, the Conftable and the Duke of Guile, that fhe had no intention to feparate herfelf from the Catholics, nor to confent to the new reform, any further than ne- ceflity and the advice of good men mould oblige her, to grant to the liugonots, a moderate liberty. Her letters wrere not lefs ambiguous, than her words : and fhe did not explain herfelf more clearly abroad than at home. She gave contin- ually
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 207
ually new inftruftions to the ambaffadors in fo- reign courts, and especially to Dclile, who rcfidcd at Rome. Sometimes fhe contracted and at other times (he extended their powers ; and by thefe variations held all minds in fufpence. But this conduct be^an to be more delicate than ever,
O
The Chiefs of the two parties, were not lefs poli- ticians than herielf: During the courfe of her regency they had found opportunities to unravel all her artifices, and penetrate all her difguifes. The Kin ST advanced in a ore, and that circumftance
O O 7
was to them a neceffity to haften the execution of their defigns. His minority might give to certain measures a colour, which would no long- er exift, when he would be of age ; when all ought to depend upon his will, to which they could no longer oppoie themfelves, without the guilt of rebellion : At the prefent moment they could pretend, that their oppolition was only to a bad adminiftration, and the pernicious defigns of thofe who governed under his authority.
Already the Duke of Guife, more enterpriiing and more alive than the others, directed, at his pleafure, the refolutions of his party. He had drawn into his fentiments the Conftable and the King of Navarre, by perfuading them, that if they would all refort to court, they might bring off the King and the JQtf&eft-Motfrer to tfos capital, and reduce them to the neceflity of taking meafures, and ifluing edicts, as the Catholics fhould judge convenient to their interefts, without expoiing themfelves, any longer, to the danger of being anticipated, and without permitting their ene- mies to feize on the King and avail themfelves of his authority. The Prince of Conde' had formed the fame defign : He had. retired at firH
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
to Mcaux, and from thence to his eftate, at la 1'erte where he intended to affemble the main body of his forces. This refolution was the effect of the advice of the Admiral, fuggefted by the Queen, and the projects of the Catholics, which had not efcaped his penetration — nothing being more common in civil wars, than to diicover the defigns of the enemy either by the infidelity of fome to the fecret, or by the multitude of fpies who are employed. The chiefs of the Catholic party had occasion only for their ordinary reti- nue to execute their defign ; the neighbourhood of Paris, which was wholly devoted to them, allured them of fufficient forces, and offered them favorable opportunities. On the contrary, the Pvince of Conde, weaker than his enemies, and followed by few troops, was obliged to wait for the Lords of his party, and the nobility whom he had fummoned from feveral provinces, who af- fembled but ilowly. Thus the Catholics were before-hand, by appearing all well attended at the Court.
Their unforefeen arrival difconccrted not the t^ueen. Although me depended little on the fuccefs of her intrigues, me exerted herfelf to perfuade the King of Navarre to depart from Co art, with the Princes and Lords who had ac- companied him. " No man is ignorant," faid ihe to him, " that the Catholic Lords would take advantage of my weaknefs, and that of my ion, to compel us, to regulate the State, accord- ing to their inclinations, by governing at the will of their ambition and private interefts. This conduce, direclly oppofite to the principles of honour an 3 of fidelity, of which they boaft, is not Irfs contrary to the tranquility and the con-
fervation
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
fervation of the State, which they pretend to have alone in view. " To ilfue new edicts, and revoke thole which have been publifhed, is it not to put arms into the hands of the Hugonots ? Thefe fechries, already fo audacious and fo ready to revolt, will complain aloud of injuftice, if we annul, without reafon, an edict prepared and ac- cepted with the confent of both parties. During the minority of the King, we ought to avoid war, and the troubles infeparable from it, to the ut- moft of our care and power. To whom will the nation impute the difafters which will overwhelm it ? Will not an eternal infamy be the portion of thofe who have the principal mare in govern- ment ? It was to avoid thefe dangers, and to take away all pretexts from the incendiaries, that I fubfcribed to the edict of January, and quitted the capital. The moft effectual means of irritating the violence of an evil, which as yet is only creep* ing on fecretly, would be to carry us into a fuf- pected city, and repeal an edict already publifhed. The King of Navarre, and the Catholic Princes, ought to remember, that it belongs only to the flagitious, whofe fortune is uncertain ordefperatc, to excite civil wars. The Prince commands without contradiction. The Lords of his party, loaded with riches, dignities, employments and honors, enjoy the moft flouriihing fortune. Can they envy the people an imaginary and momen- tary liberty ? Let them iuffer the King to arrive at his majority, without feeing his kingdom dif- tracted with war. Forced by neceiftty, I have only pardoned faults, which I could not punilh — nor have I granted to the Hugonots other liberty than that which they had ufurped. It is only by management that we can cure the people of this C g phrenzy.
sro DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
phrenzy. tet the Catholic Chiefs then themfelves with patience, for fear that, by rafk remedies, they may envenom an evil which may draw after it fatal revolutions,, and the moil melancholly events. If however you are refolved to make any alteration in the edict, it ought only to be done by infenfible degrees t and by the favor of fuitable opportunities and conjunctures. To employ violent means, would be to furnifh the feditious with pretexts, which they feek with f? much ardour^'
No. 26.
THESE reafons of the Queen, urged and re* peated with energy, would have flaggered the King of Navarre, and perhaps the Conftable, if the Duke of Guife would have liftened to them. But he wifhed for war — by the favor of which he flattered himfelf, he mould recover and even increafe his ancient power. Moreover, in quality of Chief, and Protector of the Catholic party, he wifhed to annul, by aay means whatever, all that had been done againft his inclination, to the prejudice of the Church — and to arrogate to himfelf all the glory of fuch a revolution. He combatted therefore, with vivacity, all the rea.- ibns of the Queen, and remonftrated to his con- federates, that they would infallibly lofe all their credit and reputation, by fuffering themfelves to be fo eafily amufed by a woman, who had no
other
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 211
ttfher defign than to throw herfelf into the arms of the oppolite party as ibon as they, from a blind .confidence in her words, -fhould depart from -Court. " Nothing" added the Duke, " will be more prejudicial to cur caufe, nor more infa- mous for us, than to avow that it is neither the public good, -nor the maintenance of the Royal Authority, but private pailions and perfonal in- terefts, which have put us in motion. It will be believed, t^at the remorfe of -our confciences, has obftructed us, in the purfUit of our enterprife. The artificial difcourfes of the Queen, ought not to prevail with us, to abandon 2. refoiution, ma- turely weighed, and taken by concert, nor to in- terrupt the execution of a project, dictated by rea- fon, prefcribed by honor, and commanded by that attachment, which we have profeffed to religion \vhofe prefervation and intereft, have chiefly de- termined us to this raeafure. It is no longer the feafon to delay, and to wafte time in difputes* Already the Prince of Conde is advancing in arms — the forces of the Hugonots are aflem- bled — they are ready to feize on the per/on of the King, if we do not haften to place him in a~fituation of f&fety — and face zve cannot terminate tlh affair by perfuafion, let us not be intimidated from employing force : Let us take away the King^ and leave the Queen to take the part which me mail judge moft convenient. The refolutions of this Prin- cefs are of little moment to us, as foon as we lhall be fupported by the prefence of our lawful Sovereign, aided by the authority of the firft Prince of the blood, to whom, by right of birth belongs the government of the kingdom."
The Prince of Conde, united with the Colignis and other Lords of his party, approached the
Court.
ata DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
Court. The Conftable, and the King of Navarre, perfuaded by the Duke of Guife, gave the Queen to understand, that it was neceffary to take her refolution, without lofs of time ; that for them- felves, they had refolved to conduCt to Paris, the King and his brothers, for fear they mould fall into the hands of the Hugonots, who, according to intelligence, were not far diftant. That they would not abandon their matter to the mercy of hereticks, who intended to take him away, in order to make an ill ufe of his name, and under- mine the foundations of the monarchy. That there was no time to be loft, or trifled away. — That they Jhould eonduft the King to Paris, as their cwn honor, and the good of the ftate required .• That as to herfelf, they pretended not to conftrain her in any thing ; but mould leave her, with all the refpect that was due to her, at liberty to difpofe of her perfon, as fhe mould think fit. The Queen was not aftonifhed at this declaration, bold and fudden as it was. She had forefeen it, and determined, beforehand, on her plan, in fuch a fituation. Forced to declare herfelf, althofhe" forefaw that the two parties would foon come to blows, me would not abandon the Catholic party. She pretended that her honor, and her re.ifon, at- tached her to it : She imagined me faw her fafe- ty, and that of her children in it. Taking there- fore in an inftant her refolution, fhe anfwered, with her ufual prefence of mind, that no perfon was more attached than herfelf to the Catholic religion, nor more zealous for the good of the State — That fhe wrould, upon this occafion, give way to their fentiments — and lince they were all for quitting Fontainbleau, fte would concur •with them.
With
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 213
With the utracft promptitude fhe gave orders for their departure ; but at the fame time fhe wrote to the Prince of Conde a letter, in which ihe lamented, that fhe could not commit herfelf, and the per/on of the King, into the hand* of his partizans, according to the promife fhe had made him : That the Catholics had prevented them, by conducting them by force to Paris : That, provided he did not lofe his courage, me exhorted him not to fuffer his enemies to take pofleffion of the whole authority of government. She then commenced her journey, with the King and her other children, furrounded by the Triumvirate, and the other Catholic Lords, who to confole her, treated her with great refpect and honor. She arrived that evening at Melun, the next day at Vincennes, and in the morning of the third day at Paris. Many perfons obferved the young King in tears, thinking the Catholic Lords had deprived him of his liberty. The Queen, irritated by the ill-fuccefs of her artifices, and forefeeing the calamities of an inevitable war, difcovered, during the whole journey, a mourn- ful and mortified air and countenance. The Duke of Guife was fo little affected with this, that he faid freely and openly, that the public good was a public good, whether it was obtained by confent or hy force.
The Prince of Conde was informed, upon his march, of the departure of the King, and per- ceiving himfeif either prevented by the Catho- lics, or deceived by the Queen, made a halt, and remained fome time undecided, what courfe he mould take. The terrible picture of thofe dangers which threatened him, prefented itfelf in lively colours before his eyes ; but the Admiral, who
, f T f
had
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
had remained a little in the rear, arriving, they conferred toge^er a few minutes, and the Prince, with a profound ugh cried out, " The die is caft, we are too far advanced to retreat." He took immediately another road, and marched with rapidity towards Orkans, of which, he had for fcvmetime refolved to take poffeffion. This city, one of the principal of the Kingdom, about thirty leagues from Paris, is vaft, well built, and very populous ; it is £tuated in the province of Beauce almoft in the middle of France upon the banks of the Loire, a large navigable river, which after having watered feveral provinces, falls into the ocean in Brittany. Orleans, by its navigation, and its facility of communication with feveral other provinces, appeared to the Prince very proper for a place of arms and the center of his party, and to be oppofed in fome fort, to Paris. For feveral months, that he had meditated to make himfelf matter of this city, he had enter* tained a fecret intelligence with fome of the in- habitants, inclined to the doctrines of Calvin, whom he employed to engage a great part of the young men, who were reillejfs, {editions and gree- dy of novelties. As it is not intended to relate in detail, the whole of this hiftory, it is fufficient to fay, that he got poffenion of Orleans, that the two parties publilhed manifeftos, and that chi- canery, negociations, battles, fieges, conflagra- tions and affaflinations, fucceeded in all their ufual train of horrors in civil wars.
"DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 2 :
No. 27.
\VE mall now contertt ourfelves with reciting the fummary of this firft civil war. After the publication of declarations and manifeftoes, the two armies took the field. The Queen-mother wifhes to avoid a war, and procure peace : She Jiegociates an interview for this purpofe with the Prince of Conde, but without fuccels : She con- tinues however to negociate an accommodation, and obtains a conclusion of it. The Prince re- pents of it, by the perfuafion of his partizans, and refumes his arms. He attempts in the night to furprize the royal army : His enterprize fucceeds not. The King receives powerful rein- forcements from Germany and Switzerland. The Prince of Conde is obliged to fliut himfelf up in Orleans, and feparate his army, which he could not hold together in a body. He fends to demand fuccours in Germany and England, and confents to deliver Havre de Grace to the En- glim, and receive their garrifons into Rouen and Dieppe. The Queen, irritated and afflicted at thefe refolutions, joins the Catholic party, and declares the Hugonots, rebels. The royal army takes Blois, Tours, Poitiers, and Bourges. The 1 5th of Sept. 1 562, it lays fiege to Rouen — in the courfe of which, the King of Navarre, vifiting the trenches to reconnoitre the ftate of the place, was wounded in the left fhoulder, by a Ihot of an Arquebufe, which broke the bone, wound- ed the nerves, and felled him to the ground as if he was dead. He was carried immediately to his
quarters.
/rri*tm a-f 6 if ant*
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA,
quarters, where all the other generals affembled. The furgeons who dreffed his wounds, in the pre- fence of the King and Queen, judged it mortal, becaufe the ball had penetrated too far, into the body.
The 26th of O&ober 1 562, the city was carried ,,ji \j by afiault, and the whole army entered, making
' '* lK< *" f -A horrible carnage of the garriibn and inhabitants,
• by putting to the iword, without any quarter, aii who prefented themfelves armed or unarmed : The city was delivered up to be plundered, except the churches and confecrated things, which the foldiers were made to refpeft, by the vigilance and good difcipline of the generals.
The King of Navarre, fufferiug under the pains of his wound, and wounded in fpirit almoit as much as in body, inlifted on embarking on the Seine, to be transported to Saint Maur, a plea- fure-houfe near Paris, where he often went to take the air, and enjoy the tranquility of foli- tude. He fcarce arrived at Andeli, a few leagues from Rouen, when his fever was augmented by the agitation of the batteau, he loft his fenfes,
ancl died in a few hours. He united to his high
.. . r f r c
birth, an elegant perion, and a iortneis or man-
ners : If he had lived in other times, and under a better conftitution of government, he might have been reckoned among the greateft Princes of his age ; but the candor and lincerity of his heart, the fweetnefs and alTability of his difpoii- tion, in the midil of political troubles, and civil difientions, fcrvcd only to hold him in continual agitation and inquietude. Inconftant in his projects, and uncertain in his reiblutions — drawn away on one iicle by the impetuous character of his brother, and excited by the partv of the Cal-
' • fn.
vtnilts,
//-
, , , "•
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 217
•vinifts, in which he long held the firft rank — re- ftrained on the other hand by motives of honor, as he thought, by his natural inclination for peace, and averfion for civil wars, he difcovered on many occafions but little firmnefs or conftancy in his defigns. Placed in the number of thofe, who lay under the reputation of feeking to dif- turb the ftate, he fhared in their difgrace — and he was feen afterwards, at the head of the oppo- iite party, perfecuting thofe, whoin he had for- merly protected. In point of religion, fometimeg allured to Calvinifm, by the perfualions of his wife, and the difcourfes of Theodore Beza — and fometimes brought back to the Catholic faith, by the torrent of fafhion, and the eloquence of the Cardinal of Lorraine, he gained the confidence of neither party, and left in his dying moments, fufpicious and equivocal ideas of his creed. Ma- ny thought, that, though he was in his heart attached to Calvinifm, or rather to the confeflion of Augfburg, he feparated from the Hugonots from fecret views of ambition — and fuffering im- patiently that the Prince his brother, by his valor and greatnefs of foul had acquired among them more efteem than himfelf, he chofe rather to hold the firft rank among the Catholics than the fecond among the Calvinifts. He died at the age of forty-two, in a time when his prudence, in- creafing with age, he might perhaps have fur- pafTed the opinion which had been conceived of him. Jane of Albr'et, his widow, continued in poflefiion of the title of Queen, and of what re- mained of Navarre. She had two children, Hen- Htr> ry, Prince of Beam, then nine years of age, and -afterwards the all-glorious Henry the Fourth of France, and the Princefs Catharine, then very D d young.
4
2 iS DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
young. Their mother lived with them at Pay: and at Nerac, fupervifmg their education in the new religion.
The Prince of Conde, reinforced by the auxil- iary forces from Germany, makes hafte to attack Paris. The King and Queen return thither with their armv, and after various newciations the
4 *
Prince is conilrained to depart. The two armies march towards Normandy — a memorable battle /h ,fff i is fought at Dreue, where the Prince of Conde is made prifoner by the Catholics, and the Con- 2>reu<^. ftable by the Hugonots. In the firft onfet of this
a^iollj Gabriel of Montmorency, the fon of the i > "cojiftabie, had been killed, the Comte of Roche- ' l fort had been thrown from his horfe, and loft his ^.^life, and the catholics, in fpite of all their bra- rWv**fc,. very? i3Cgan to give Way. The German cavalry a(r*itt~->i fto armed with piftols, and divided into two large *t kiiL±J.t iquadrons, having joined the Admiral in this critical moment, made a frefti charge with fuch IS *i*nsta»u* fulT> t^1 tne7 broke the Catholics, and forced ^ them to fly. The Conftable who fought in this place with great bravery, exerted hirnfelf in vain t^rt-; to itop and rally the fugitives : His horfe fell
under him, and he was wounded in the left arm, furrounded by the Germans, and made prifoner, after having feen perifli at his fide, the Duke of Nevers, and feveral other officers of diftincdon.
The Prince of Conde, in charging the cavalry V° of the Duke of Guile, was afterwards wounded
jn his rjg}lt hand, and covered over with blood, and dufl and fweat, was made prifoner by Dani- ville, who, wifliing to avenge the capture of his father, fought with defperation. The Duke of Guife remained mafter of the field of battle, _ the baggage and artillery of his enemy. The Prince
la
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 219
of Conde was brought into the prefence of his conqueror, and it was a memorable fcene to fee thofe two famous men, whom paft events, and efpecially the lart battle, had rendered implacable enemies, reconciled at once by the caprice of fortune, fup at the fame table, and for want of other lodgings, and better accommodations, pafs the night in profound fleep, on the fame bed.
Thofe who firft fled from this action, carried ^"6 to Paris the firft news of the defeat and captivity of the Conftable, and threw the Court into deep mourning and great inquietudes. They were diffipated however, a few hours afterwards, by the Captain of the King's guards being difpatch- ed by the Duke of Guife. The news^ which he fpread, and the affurances which he gave -of the victory gained by the Catholics, diminimed the grief caufed by the death of fo many brave men, whofe lofs had put all France in mourning. Be- iides the Lords and Knights, of diftinguimed no- bility and reputation, they reckoned eight thou- fQOQ fand men among the flain. The Duke of Guife & acquired a glory without bounds by this victory, v which gave a great check to the Hugonots. The King and Queen declared him General of the ar- my, and he took the rout to Orleans, that he<?"^ ™ »**£*»• /"" might not leave his enemy the time to repair •7-^a>»<>. their lofles.
No.
azo DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
No. 28,
THE fiege and defence of Orleans, may be a good lecture on the military art, but is not di-- rectly to our purpofe, which at prefent is only to relate the fortunes and cataftrophes of the great actors in thofe fcenes of emulation, which have been before defcribed. There was in the party fj) MI , °f tne Hugonots, a gentleman, named Poltrot, of an active mind and a defigning character. He had lived fome years in Spain ; and having af- terwards embraced Calvinifm, and refided fome time at Geneva, he difcovered fo much zeal for his new faith, and entered with fo much zeal in- to all the intrigues of the party, that the Calvin- jfts in general confidered him, as aperfonage cap- able of attempting in their favor the moil haz^ ardous enterprizes» It is not one of the leaft evils of a civil war, that no man's character is fecure againfl fufpicions and imputations of the moft enormous crimes. It is almoft the univer- fal practice for each party to charge the leaders of the other, with every bafb action, every finif- ter event, and every high handed wickednefs, without much confideration or enquiry, whether there is truth, or evidence, or even color to fup- ''*ajhd{ics Port t^ie accu&tion. The Catholics pretended j. . that the Admiral and Theodore Beza, ensra^ed t L ^cfy ^ poltrot to affaffinate the Duke of Gm-fej by pYQ^
*&& of fes of great rewards, and by perfuading him that j he could do nothing more acceptable to God, tnan to deliver his people from their moft cruel perfecutors. Poltrot yielding to their inftiga-
tionss
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 221
tions, pretended to have abandoned the Calvinift party, and threw himfelf into the royal army, where having infmuated himfelf into the houfe of the Duke of Guifc, he watched for a favorable moment to execute his defign. The 24th of /^ February, 1513. the Duke after having given his orders for an affault which he intended to make the next day, at the bridge of Orleans, returned at night to his quarters about a league didant from the trenches ; Poltrot, mounted on a Span- iih horfe, very fleet, waited for him, on his paf- fage, and feeing him accompanied, only by a gen- f^ .
tleman of the Queen, with whom he was cloiely ~^ /u U engaged in converfation, he mot him in the back, with, an arquebufe, loaded with three balls. The Duke was without arms, the three balls ftruck iiim under the right moulder and pierced him through the body ; he fell from his horfe for dead. His gentlemen, who marched before, that they might not interrupt his converfation, re- turned, at this accident, and carried him to his lodgings, where as ;foon as they had examined his wound, his life was defpaired of. The King, the Queen Mother and all the Lords in the army, at the news of fo fatal a difafter, haftened to the Duke's lodgings ; but all their cares and reme- dies were ulelefs ; he died in three days, with great fentiments, fays Davila, of piety and reli- gion, difcovering in his difcourfes a greatnefs of foul and a moderation, moft admirable. This Prince, united with the higheft valor and fmgu- lar abilities, a confummate prudence. As pro- found in council, as active in execution, he al- ways faw his defigns crowned with the happieft fuceefs. Thefe qualities had procured him the reputation of the firft Captain of his age, and his
exploits
*22 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
exploits merited the title of the defender and protector of the Catholic religion. He left a name glorious and celebrared to pofterity, ' tar- nijhed however to endlefs ages ivith the juft imputation cf intolerance.
Pokrot had efcapedinto a neighboring foreft ; but tortured by the remorfe of his confcience, and by the terror of being purfued on all fides, he wandered all night in the woods, without be- ing able to find the road to Orleans. The next morning, exhaufted by fatigue, he was arrefted by ibme Swifs guards and led to the Queen and the principal ofiicers of the army. He alternately accufed and acquitted, both on the rack and at his execution, the Admiral and Theodore Beza, who publifhed declarations throughout all Eu- rope, denying in the moft folemn manner, their knowledge of the defign of Poltrot. The court haftened the exccutio'n of this monfter, before an opportunity had been given to confront and ~ .. , examine him, as the Admiral requefted. by quar- ktr*.<L terinS him between four horfes. The confe- quence was that the fufpicion was fattened, on thefe two auftere and excellent characters, in the ininds of the Catholic party, though they have been uniformly acquitted by the whoie impartial world. In confequence of the prejudices of the Catholics, the children of the Duke of Guife pre- ferved a cruel refentment, and took a horrible revenge.
The death of the Duke of Guife was followed by a general peace — and the Royal Army retakes Havre de Grace from the Englifli. The King ar- rives at his fourteenth year, and is declared of
. The Queen's inventive genius imagines va- ns means of appeafing the difcontented Prin^
age
rious f
ces
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
-ces ^ and to accomplish her cleiigns, travels with the King through all the provinces of the king- dom. In Dauphiny they contrived an interview with the Duke of Savoy ; at Avignon, with the Miniilers of the Pope ; and on the frontiers of Guienne with the King and Queen of Spain. To theie Princes tliey might communicate their il:avt deligns, without apprehenfion of their coming to the knowledge of the Hugonots, which would have been almoft inevitable, if they had employed Ambaffadors. The Queen, with her ufual diffimulatioh, endeavored to prevent the public from fufpecting her genuine defign, and iecret views. She pretended that it was a fimple deilre in the King to fee his kingdom, and mow himfelf to his people. The Queen pre- tended to confent to it only todifplay before the eyes of the people the magnificence of her court, and to fee her daughter the Queen of Spain. Un- der the veil of thefe appearances, fo different from the truth, nothing was feen but magnifi- cent preparations and fumptuous liveries — noth- ing was talked of but huntings, balls, comedies and f calls. The interviews and intrigues in the vourfo of their journey with the Dukes of Lor- rain, of Wirtemberg, and other Chiefs of the Froteftants or Caihoiics in Germany ; the Count; Palatine, the Duke of DeuxPonts, the Duke of Saxony, and Marquis of Baden, the Duke of Sa- voy, and the Miniilers of the Pope, we pafs over. In 15^5, at Bayonnc, they met the Queen o Spain, accompanied with the Duke of Alva the Count de Benevent : While they pretended o<* to be there wholly employed in fcafts and pica- ^/«' «^/ j'urcs, they held fecret councils in concert, to ^J aboliih the' diverfity cf religion. The Duke of
224 -DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
Alva, a man of a violent character, whofe very name, as well as that of the Cardinal de Lorrain, Is aflbciated in every mind with bloody bigotry and anti-chriftian intolerance, faid boldly, that to cut the root of all novelties in matters of re- ligion, it was necv.iary to " cut off the heads of the poppies" — '• 1 o angle for the large iifli — not amufe themfelves with the frogs" — " When the winds lhall ceafe to blow, the waves of the popu- lace will foon be calmed.5* Thefe are the mifer- able maxims of tyranny, whether it be cxercifed by a lingle man or a multitude., " There is no difference," according to Ariftotle, and hiftory and experience, " between a people governing by a majority in a fmgle afTembly, and a Monarch in a tyranny ; for their manners are the fame, and they both hold a defpotic power over better perfons than themfelves. Their decrees are like the other's edicts — their demagogues like the other'sflatterers." — Arijlotle* s Politics Lib. 4.011.4. Old Tarquin would not utter thefe maxims in words to the mefTenger of his fon from Gabii, but walked out into his garden andftruckoffthe heads of the tailed poppies with his ftaff. With no better authority than thefe trite aphorifms of defpotifm, did the Duke of Alvafupport his dog- matifm, that a Sovereign could do nothing more fliameful or contrary to his interefts, than to grant to his iubjects liberty of confcience, and his ad- vice to employ fire and fword, to exterminate the Chiefs of the Hugonots.
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 225
i
No. 29.
THE Queen-Mother had either more hypocri- iy, or more foftnefs of temper, or more cunning. She was for effaying all means of alluring the Chiefs of the Hugonots to the bofom of the Church, and their obedience to the King.
The differences of circumftances, of manners, of interefts and characters, as ufual, divided their fentiments, and, cauling them to look at things on different fides, dictated oppofite refolutions. The two Kings however take meafures in concert to fupprefs rebellions. The Queen of Navarre comes to court. The King engages the family of the Chatillions to a reconciliation with that of the Guifes. Their reciprocal hatreds foon rekin- dle and break out afrefh. The Queen of Navarre in difcontent quits the court. y A *
The advice of the Duke of Alva was conform- Jw*f of-* able to the temper and character of this King. He faid he highly relifhed the fentiment of the Duke of Alva ; that the heads of thofe rebels were too high in the State. The four families of Bourbon, Montmorency, Guife and Chatillion, all ftimulated by other fubordinate families de- pendent on them, continue their emulations, fallacies, hatreds, envies, oppofitions, intrigues, manoeuvres, combinations, decompofitions, ter- giverfations : Another civil war breaks out, the hiftory of which with its caufes and events, we fhali leave the reader to read in detail. In i c6/, /S'C).
s
at the battle of Saint Dennis, the Conftable de J Montmorency, in fpight of five wounds he had E e received
226 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
received in the head and face, fought with ex* treme valor, endeavors to rally his troops, and lead them on to battle, when Robert Stuart, a Scot, came up to him and prefenting to him a piflol, the Conftabie faid to him, " you are ig- norant then that I am the Conftable." " It is becaufe I know you, faid Stuart, that I prefent you this," and at the fame time mot him in the moulder with his own piflol ; although the vio- lence of the blow ftruck down the Conftabie, he had ftill ilrength enough left to flrike Stuart in the face with the hilt of his fword, which re- mained in his hand, though the blade was bro- ken, withfuch force as broke his jawr, beat out three of his teeth and brought him down by his fide half dead. The Hugonots were defeated however, but the next day ttie ' onftable died the age of forefccre, alter having fhewn in tjie action as much enterprize, bravery and vigor
~ as jf he had been in the full ftrength of his youth.
\ He preferved to his laft moment, an admirable firmnefs and prefence of mind ; a prieft ap- proached his bed, to prepare him for death ; the Conilable turned to him with a ferene counte- nance, and prayed to be left in repofe — adding, it would be lhameful for him to have lived eighty years, without learning to die for half an hour. His wifdom, his rare prudence, and long experi- ence in affairs procured for him . and his family immenfe riches, and the firfl employments under the crown : But he was always fo unfortunate in the command of armies, that in all the enterpri- zes where he had the command in chief., he was either beaten, or wounded, or made prifoner.
The Calviniftic army retired into Champaine, and afterwards into Lorrain to meet the7 troops
they
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 221
they expected from Germany. The. Queen, whom the death of the Conftable had now delivered from the power and ambition of the Grandees, and who remained the fmgle arbiter of the Cath- olic party, would no longer expofe herfelf to the dangers of an unlimited power by advifing the King to name another Conftable or General of the army. She judged more proper to rcferve to the difpofition of the King and in her own power, the whole authority of the command. She therefore, periuaded Charles, by many rea- fons, to phce at the head of his army, the Duke^J"*' of Anjou, his brother, a young Prince of great hopes, but who was not yet fixteen years of age. The army is reinforced by fuccours fent from Flanders by the Kii-g of Spain, and from Pied- mont, and many other places. The Duke of Anjou follows the Hugonots, to give them bat- tle before their junction with the Germans. He overtakes them near Chalons : But the mifun- derftandings and other obflacles excited in his council, hinder him from hazarding a battle. The Calvinifts pafs the Meufe and form, a junc- tion with the auxili ;iy troops commanded by the Prince Caffimir. They return into Champaine. The Queen goes to the army to extinguifh the divifions that reign there. They take the reib- lution not to attack the Kugonots, now become too formidable : but to draw out the war, into length ; marches off the two armies, fatisfied with obferving each other's motions. This Fabian fyftem of the Catholics difcon certs the Prince of Conde and the Admiral, unprovided with money to fupport, for any length of time, their army. In order to draw the royal army to battle they form the fiege of Chartres, The danger of that
cii)
328 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
city gives occalion to new propofitions of peace j Indeed a peace is concluded and the two armies are feparated ; but the iJugonots did not furren- der all the places they were mailers of, nor did the King difcharge his Swifs or Italian troops — which occalion new quarrels.
The court, feeing that the Hugonots did not execute the conditions under which they had been promifed an oblivion of the paft, attempts to take off the Prince of Conde and the Admiral, who hid retired well accompanied, to Noyers in Burgundy. Ihey are advertiied of their danger and efcape to Rochell, reaffemble their forces, and make themfelves matters of ^aintonge, Poi- tou and Tourdine. The King orders the Duke ofAnjouto march againft them. rl he two ar- mies meet at Janfeneuil, without engaging : they meet again at Loudun ; the rigor .of the feafon, prevents a battle. '1 he exceffive cold obliges them to march at a diftance from each other. Diftempers break out in both armies and carry off vaft numbers. They open the next campaign, in the month of March. The Hugonots pafs the Charente, break down the bridges, and guard all .the pafiages The Duke of, Anjou, by the means of a ftratagenij paiTes the river. The battle of // /If • h Jarnacenfues- On the lixteenth of March, 1569, ' this famous action, fo fatal to the Proteftant . caufe and to liberty of confcience in France, as to, (kattu ffj- jLave annihilated, or at leaft to have oppreffed / asffl^c both for two hundred and fifty years, took place. i** ^ie y°ung Duke of Guife diftinguifhed himfelf on that day, by attacking the left wing of the Calvanifts, commanded by the Admiral and Dan- dilotat the head of the nobility of Britanny and
Normandy, and gave proofs of a courage, and
tajents
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 229
talents capable of performing as much good, or committing as much evil as his father had done.
The Prince of Conde, who commanded the main body, oppofed to the Duke of Anjou, fup- ported with intrepidity the mock of the enemy, and when abandoned by his right and left, char- ged on all fides by fhe conquerors and furround- ed by a whole world of enemies, he and thofe \vho accompanied him, fought with defperation* In arranging his fquadrons, he had been wound- ed in the leg by a kick of the Duke de la Roche- foucault's horfe, and in the combat his own was killed and overthrown upon him. This Prince, thus dangeroufly wounded, put one knee to the ground and continued to fight, until Montefquiou,.^<W<r ' Captain of the guards of the Duke of Anjou, mot Jh**t £ him through the head with a piftol. Robert Stu- art, who had killed the Conilable at the battle of St. Dennis, and almoft all the gentlemen of Poitou and S'lintonge, were cut in pieces, by the fide of the Prince.
The Duke of Anjou, fought in the firft ranks of his fquadron with a valor above his years, had an horfe killed under him, and ran great rifques of his life. The Hugonots loft near feven hun- dred noblemen or knights of diftinction The foldiers, in derifion, with feoffs and infults, bro't the body ot the Prince of Conde upon an afs or pack-horfe to the Duke, of Anjou at Jarnac.
L'an mil cinq cens foixante & neuf Entre Jarnac & Chateau — ueuf Fut.portc mort fur une aneiTe, Le grand ennemi de la Meile.
Young Henry, Prince of Navarre, begged the body of the Duke of Anjou, who fent it to Ven-
dome
i^o DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
dome to the tombs of his anceftors. Thus !ive4 and died Louis ot Bourbon, Prince of Condey v° whofe valor, conftancy and greatnefs of foul, difr
tinguifhed him above all the greateft Princes and IT; oft famous Captains of his age. I mall reverfe the reproaches of Davila, and fay that he deferves to be cannonized as one of the proto martyrs to liberty of confcience, inftead of that croud of
* •*
bloody tyrants with which the calender has been difgraced.
The affairs of the Hugonots were in a critical fituation. It was not doubted but that, after the death of the Prince, the Admiral would be chof- en for their Chief, both becaufe of the difdn- guifhed employments which he had held in the party, and the reputation which his prudence had acquired. After the battle of Dreux, when the Prince was made prifoner, the whole party, with unanimous confent, had deferred to Coligni the honour of the command. But at prefent there were feveral gent'emen, who, by their birth, their riches, or their other mnlities, tho't themfe'ves not his inferiors. Some of thefe tore his reputation with flinders ; fonie detcfted the aufterity of his character, manners and habits. Unhappy Admiral ! thy fortune however is not Singular. Merit, talents, virtues, fervices, of the moft exalted kinds, have in all ages been forced to give way, not to family pride, for this alone would be impotent and ridiculous, but to the popular prejudice, the vulgar idolatry, or the fplendor of wealth and birth, with which family pride is always fortified, Supported and defended. The Admiral had loft, by malignant fevers, his brother Dandeiot and his friend Eoucard : de- prived of thefe two, the party which interefted
itfelf
DISCOURSES ON DA VILA. 231
kfelf in the grandeur and elevation of the Admi- ral, was coniiderably weakened. But Coligni furmounted all obftacles by hi ; audrefs — he beg.in by renouncing in appearance thole chimerical titles with which a vain ambition would have been fatisfied, propoiing however, in racl, to prc- ferve all the authority of the command. He re- foived to dechre Chiefs of the party and Gener- als of the army, Henry Prince of Navarre, and Henry Prince of Conde, ton of the deceased Prince. During the childhood of thefe, the Ad- miral remained neceffarily charged with the con- duel: and adminiftration of all affairs of import- ance. It was, among Proteftants, as well as Ca- tholics, in the caufe of liberty as well as that of tyranny, the only means of repreiling the ambi- tion and pretenlions, the envy, jealouily, malig- nity and perfidy of the grandees ; the only means of anfwering the expectations of the people, and of uniting minds which the diverfity of fcntiment had already very much divided.
In this refolution, without demanding what he felt, he could not obtain — The Admiral intreat- ed the Queen of Navarre to come to the army, reprefenting to her ihat the moment was arrived for elevating the Prince her fon to that degree of grandeur for which he was born, and to which me had long afpired. The Queen was not want- ing in courage or fortitude : already refolved at all hazards to declare her foil the head of the party, me came with all the diligence which a flroke of ib much importance required, and ap- peared with the two Princes at the camp at Cog- nac. Difcord reigned in the army, notwithftand- ing the neceffity of union and unanimity, to fuch a degree that it was on the point of dHBariding.
The
£.32 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
cL The Queen of Navarre, after having approved f\r ... the views of the Admiral, aflembled the troops;
f27rc- {he fpoke to them with a firmnefs above her fex, and exhorted all thofe brave warriors to continue conftant and united, for the defence of their lib- erty and their religion. She propofed to them for Chiefs the two young Princes, who were pre- fent, and whofe noble air interefted the fpecta- tors ; adding, that, under the aufpices of thefe two young {hoots from the royal blood, they ought to hope for the moft happy fuccefs to the juft pretenfions of the common caufe. This dif- courfe animated the courage of the army, whd appeared to forget in an inftant the chagrin caufed by the lofs of the battle, and by the dif- fentions which had followed it. The Admiral and the Earl of Rochefoucault were the firft to fubmit, and to take an oath of fidelity to the Princes of Bourbon ; the nobility and all the offi- cers did the fame, and the foldiers, with great acclamations, applauded the choice which their Generals had made of the Princes for Chiefs and protestors of the reformed religion. This in human imaginations is confidered, and in human lan- guage is called, DIGNITY ! The greateft Statef- man, and the greateft General of his age, muil reii^n the command of his own army, even in the caufe of religion, virtue and liberty, to two beardlefs boys, becaufe they had more wealth, and better blood.
fj Henry of Bourbon, Prince of Navarre, aged
no; A/."?, j^ haci however a lively fpirit, a great and gen- erous foul, and difcovered a decided inclination for war : animated by the councils of his moth- er, he accepted without hefitation the command of the army, and promifed the Hugonots, in a
concife
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 233
nciic military eloquence, to protect their reli- gion, and to perfevere in the common caufe, un- til death or victory mould procure them liberty. The Prince of Conde, whofe tender age permitted not to exprcfs his ientiments, marked his confent only by his geftures. Thus the Prince of Na- varre, who pined to the fuperiority of age the prerogative of (irft Prince of the blood, became really the head of the party. In memory of this event, the Queen Jane caufed medals of gold to be (truck, which reprefented on one fide her own buft, on the other that of her ion, with this in- fcription — PAX CERT A, VICTORIA INTEGRATORS HOXES'TA.—~j4jafeptace, complect victory, or honor- bis death.
Colicmi remains charged with the conduct of
o o
the war, by reafon of the youth of the Princes — he divides his troops, and throws them into the cities which adhered to him. The Duke of An- jou purfues his victory, and forms the fie^e of Cognac, which he is obliged however to raitc., by the vigorous refinance of the beaeged : he takes ibvcr.il other cities. A new army of Germans, commanded by the Duke of Deux Fonts, enters France to afiift the Hu^ronots. Wolfariff of Ba-
^j Cj
varia, Duke of Deux Ponts, excited by the money and thepromifes of the Hugonots, with the aid of the Duke of Saxony and the Count Palatine of the Rhine, at the felicitation of the Queen of England, had raifed an army of 6000 ii :-"r. rry, and 8000 horfc. In the fame army was WiHJa'AiVi/6'aiTi &L of NaiTau, Prince of Orange, and Louis -\\\6.Jfajsau fa" Henry his brothers, who, after having quitted^ Flanders, to avoid the cruelty of the Duke Alva, iupported the intereits of the Caivinifts ;icc:. whole religion they profeffed. This ar- T- JF m^r
33A DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
my marches towards the Loire, takes La Charit:cV and paifes the river. The Duke of Deux Fonts dies of a fever, and is fucceeded in command by Count Mansfield. The Princes, and their Mentor the Admiral, march to meet this fuccour. The Duke of Anjou., for fear of being furrounded by thei'f" two armies retires into Limousin. The Hu- gonots, combined with their allies, follow the royal army. A fpirited action at K oche-Abeille. The fterility of the country forces the Hugonots to retire. The Queen-Mother comes to the camp. The ref :lution is taken to feparate the royal ar- my, to leave the forces of the Hugonots to con- fume by time : it is feparated, in fact, and the Dake of Anjou retires to Roches in Touraine.
No. 30.
THE Hugonots lay fiege to Poitiers. The Duke of Guile refoives to throw himielf into it to fuc- cour thegarrifon. This young Prince, the ob- ject of the hopes of the Catholics, propofed to himfelf to become one day their chief, by imitat- ing thus, at the beginning of his career, by an illuftrious and memorable example, the glory of his father ; who, by the defence of Metz againft the forces of the Emperor Charles the Vth. had prepared his way to the higheft power and moil brilliant reputation.
The Duke of Anjou propofes to raife the fiegc by a diverfion— he affembles his army, and leads it to Chatelleraud. 1 he Admiral raifes the fiege
of
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 235
of Poitiers, and obliges the Duke of Anjou to raife that of < hatelieraud. The Duke of Guife, however, by his activity in defence of Poitiers, and his frequent ial-ies, came out of it covered with glory and appUufe ; the whole aiholic party begin to coniider him as the fupport of religion, and the worthy iucceilbr of the power of his taiher. S iai'ac in vain lays liege to la Charite. The Earl of Montgomery ekreais the Roy.viits in iijiiM, fur rounds Teriide, and ta'wes him p/iumer. The Duke or Anjou comes to Tours, to confui.1-. wit.i the King his brother, and the Queen- Mother : The Duke of Guife came there aifoi, mining with honor and ojlory for the great act ons by which he had fignaiized himfelf at the defence of Poitiers. They all deliberated
•
on the means of puihing the war, and the Duke of Guife, coming in the place of his father, was then admitted for the fir r time into the fe.rct council : he owed this f.ivor to the fplendor of his birth, to the Cervices of his father, to his own valor, to the protection of the Cardinal of Lor- rain his uncle, but above all to the implacable hatred which the King had conceived againit the Admiral. After the death of the Prince of t'on- de, at the battle of Baffic, Charles had entertained hopes that the Calviniftica! party, no longer iup- ported by the authority of a Prince of the blood, nor of a General capable by his reputation and his va:or of fupporling the weight of fo great an cntcrprizc, would feparate and diiperfe, or at leaft incline to fubmit. But he fa\v, on the con- trary, that the policy of the Admiral had reani- mated the forces of his party ; that his valor and his ability, by availing himfelf of the name of the two young Princes of the blood royal, had
pr 'iei ve4
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
preferved union among the Calviniils, cauied greater commotions, and expofed the State to dangers more terrible than any which had been before experienced. He therefore caufed the Admiral Coligm to be declared a rebel, by an arret of the Parliament of Paris, which was pub- liihed and tranflated into feveral languages. They dragged him in effigy upon an hurdle, and at- tached him to a gibbet in the place deftined to the execution of malefactors : they ordained that his houies iliould be razed to the foundations, and his goods fold at auction. From this time the King refolved to purfue the Admiral to death, began to elevate and favor the houfe of Lorraine, and above all the Duke of Guife, who,
burnino* with ardor to avenge the death of his
. . i
father, did not diffimulate the implacable hatred
lie bore to Colijmi. The Admiral continues the
* O
war with vigor. The Duke of Airjou, whofe army, had been reinforced, feeks a battle : the Admiral endeavors to avoid it. At length he prepares for it, forced by a mutiny of his own army who demand it : he endeavors nevcrthe- Icfs to retire: the Duke of Anjou purfues him, ;;nd joins him near Moncontour : the two armies come to action on the plains of Moncontour, and a bloody battle enfues ; victory remains to the Duke of Anjou, with a great carnage of the Hu- gonors. The party is difcouraged ; but the Ad- iniral, although dangeroufly \vounded, miles their ipirits, and perfuades them to continue the war. The Princes and the Admiral abandon the whole country, except Rochelle, Angoulcme, aiu! Saint Jean d'Angeli.
Their deiign was to join the Earl of Montgom- :n-—.i refourcc which fortune fcemed to have
refcrved
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 257
refer ved to re-eftablifli their forces and repair their loiTes. After that junction, they intended to remain in the mountains until the Princes of Germany and the Queen of England mould fend them fuccors. They founded, moreover, fome hopes on the Marihal of Damville, Governor of Languedoc, who for fome time appeared inclin- ed in their iavor, and with whom they maintain a fecret intelligence, While the Conftable lived, DamviMe had held a diitinguimcd rank in the Catholic party, and had fhewn himfelf a declar- ed enemy of the Huajonots His jealoufy againft Francis of Montmorenci, his elder brother, who was connected in friendfliip with the Prince of Conde and the Colignis, his relations, had in- fpired him with this hatred of the Calvinifts ; which had been fomented by the eiteem which the Guiles profeffed for him, and the favors they procured him- Able and profound in diflimula- tion, according to conjunctures, they had em- ployed all poilible artifices to retain him in their party, and by his intervention to attach to them indilfolubly, the Conftable, who difcovered much predilection and partiality for Damville, whom he believed fuperior in courage and abilities to his other children. The Queen-Mother made him the fame demonltrations.. Obliged, during the minority of the King, to manage the gran- dees, me employed the Marfhal Damviile to pre- ferve her the attachment of the Conftable ; but after his death, ail thefe motives and confidera- tions ceafed. The Queen, who had no longer occafion for Damville, gave herfelf little trouble vo reward his fervices. The Guifes, far from ih owing him the fame regard, employed the sn.. .uent and perfuafions of the Cardinal of
Lorraine,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
Lorraine, who was now very highly in favor with Charles IXth to deprefs and diiTerve the Ma- hal, a:> a iprout of an houfe which had been 10;ig the object of hatred and jealoufy to that of Lorraine. >amvllie foon- perceived this change : the death of hi, father put an end to his ditteren- ces with his eider brother, who was not lefs ex- afperated thanhimielf at the refufal of the office of Conftable, poilei&d. fo long y their father, and which they had fcmcited more than once. He began to make advances to the friends and rela- tions of his family, and fought to renew an in- tercourfe with the Admiral, to whom he inti- mated fecret, though uncertain hopes. This motive had hindered him from fuccouring Fer- tile in Beam, and from taking from the «iugo- nots the places which they held in Gafcony and Languedcc. lie was the more inclined in favor of the Ca viniib, as he law the Admiral already advanced in 'years, and every day expofed to evident clangers. If this nobleman fhould die before the Princes were of an age to command, Damville hoped to fucceed him in the command of the Calvinitlic party : — finally ,he dreaded, that if the King and the Guifes ihou'd overbear the IVincci, the Admiral and all the Hugonots, they would then turn their efforts againit the family of Montmorenci, which would remain alone of :ill the ancient rivals, who had infpired him with iealoufy. Tfcefe difpoiitions did not efcape the "penetration of the Admiral. Excited by fuch hopes, he perfuaded the Princes to abandon the ilat country, and retire with a fm,ill number of troops into the mountains of Gafcony and Lan- d '-v^oc- Tne Buke of Anjou beficges and takes hit Jean d'Angeli, and lofes much time arid . many
DISCOURSES ON DAVltA. 25$
ibldiers : he falls fick and retires firft to Ange-s, and then to Saint Germain. The Prin- ces join the Earl of Montgommeri and reinforce their troops in Gafcony. They pafs the winter in the mountains, and defcesd into the plains in the fpring : they pafs the Rhone, and extend, themfeives into Provence and Dauphiny. They march towards Noyers and la Charite, with the deiign to approach Paris. '1 he King fends againft them an array under the command of the iViar- flial de v. one. a general of little activity, a who deiired not the ruin of the Hugonots. From, a fear of confiding his armies to noblemen, whom their elevation, their power and their animoiities, or the great numbor of their partizans, had ren- dered fulpected by him, the King committed the conduct: ot it to a General, who, periifting in his ordinary inclination, gave the Hugonots a favor- able opportunity to revive. 'Ihis refolution was alib attributed to the policy of the Duke of An- jou, who dreaded that lome other General might take away the fruit of his labors and victories. It is pretended that fuch motive*- engaged him to infpire the King w;th fuipici(>ns againft ail. the other Princes and Generals, and to prefer, to them, a man whom he cor.-iidereU. as incapable •f gaining any great advantages.
No,
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA,
No. 31. %
"Patrum interim animos, certamen regrii, ac ciipido teiiabat."
THE two armies met in Burgundy— but the Princes, being inferior, evaded an engagement.
The Queen-mother, in 1570, had too much penetration not to unravel the manoeuvres of the Marfhals de Coffe and Damville. She informed the King of them, and perfuaded him to liflen' to propolitions of accommodation. She perceiv- ed that the pafiions and the perfidy of thefe gran- dtes, might throw the flate into the greatefl dangers, if the war was continued. She was flill more determined by the news which fhe re- ceived from Germany, where the Prince Cafimir began to raife troops in favor of the Hugonots. The finances were exhaufled to fuch a degree, that they knew not where to find funds to pay ^he Swifs and Italian troops, to whom they owed large arrears. In fhort, they wiilied for peace ; and were weary of a war which held all men's minds in perpetual alarm, which reduced a great part of the people to beggary, and which coil the flate fo many men, and fo much money. The King held, with the Queen-mother, the Duke of Anjou, and the Cardinal of Lorraine, councils, in which they refolved to return to the project, already fo many times formed and abandoned to grant peace to the Kugonois — to deliver the king- dom 'from foreign troo[>s, and finally to employ artifice, and take advantage of favorable conjunctures — to take off tan chiefs cf the pjrty, which t/.-cy thought would yield of itfelf, infallibly ^ as foon as tt Jhouldfee itfclf
deprived
I
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
241
deprived ofthefupport of their leaders. It was thus, that the court would have fubftituted craft in- iteacl of force, to execute a defign, which the ob- ftinacy of the Hugonots, or the want of fidelity in thofe who commanded armies, had always de- feated when recourfe had been only to arms.
With fuch dark and horrid views were over- tures of peace made, and conditions concluded. The Princes and Admiral, (till diffident and dif- truftful, retire io Rochelle. The King endeavors to gain their confidence. To this end, he propo- fes to arive his fitter Marguerite in marriage,
i ' *^ i rN* "' n
the Prince of Navarre, and to make war in Flan-/* J^ ™ri-n ders upon the Spaniards. The marriage is folved on, and all the Chiefs of the Hugonots come to Court. The Queen of Navarre is poi- foned. After her death the marriage is celebrat- ed, during the feafts of which. Admiral Coligni is wounded by an affaflin. The King takes the refolution that, as in extreme cafes it is impru- dence to do things by halves, the Hugonots fhould be exterminated. The night between the 23d and the 24th of Auguft, 1572, a Sunda called Saint Bartholomew's Day, the Admiral is / • / aaflacreed, and almoft all the other Calviniftji - ire cut in pieces in Paris, and in ieveral other :ities in thekinorlom.
O
Such, in nations where there is not a fixed and •:nown conftitution, or where there is a conftitu- ion, without an effectual balance, are the tragi- cal effects of emulation, jealoufies and rivalries — teftruction to all the leaders — poverty, beggary •nd ruin to the followers. France, after a urv of fuch horrors, found no remedy an-
* • O
.hem but in abfolute monarchy : nor did .ation ever find anv remedy againil the f fuch rivalries among the gentlemen, but in^ efpotifm, monarchy, or a balanced conicitution. • is not neceffary to fay, that every dcibotifm
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DISCOURSES ON DAVILA,
No. 31.
"Patrum interim animos, certatnen regrii, ac ciipido veiiabat."
THE two armies met in Burgundy — but the Princes, being inferior, evaded an engagement.
The Queen-mother, in 1570, had too much penetration not to unravel the manoeuvres of the Marmals de Coffe and Damville. She informed the King of them, and perfuaded him to liften to proportions of accommodation. She perceiv- ed that the paflions and the perfidy of thefe gran- dees, might throw the flate into the greateft dangers, if the war was continued. She was flill more determined by the news which me re- ceived from Germany, where the Prince Calimir began to raife troops in favor of the Hugonots. The finances were exhaufled to fuch a degree, that they knew not where to find funds to pay 'the Swifs and Italian troops, to whom they owed large arrears. In fhort, they \vimed for peace ; and were weary of a war which held all men's minds in perpetual alarm, which reduced a great part of the people to beggary, and which coll the flate fo many men, and fo much money. The King held, with the Queen-mother, the Duke of Anjou, and the Cardinal of Lorraine, councils. in which they refolved to return to the project already fo many times formed and abandonee] to grant p^ace to the Hugonots — to deliver ihe king dom 'j'ro'/n foreign troops, and finally to employ artifice* and take advantage of favorable conjunctures — to tak: off the chiefs cf tb? p.irl;-, which ibc-j thought wouL yield of itfelf, infallibly, as foon as It, Jhouldfee itfc!
depri*
1:1
mil
are
i
k
lion
call
tun-
defe Iti
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
deprived of the fupport of their leaders. It was thus, that the court would have fubftituted craft in- Itead offeree, to execute a defign, which the ob- ftinacy of the Hugonots, or the want of fidelity in thofe who commanded armies, had always de- feated when recourfe had been only to arms.
With iuch dark and horrid views were over- tures of peace made, and conditions concluded. The Princes and Admiral, ftill diffident and dif- truftful, retire to Rochelle, The King endeavors to gain their confidence. To this end, he propo- fes to give his filter Marguerite in marriage, m the Prince of Navarre, and to make war in Flan- /* ders upon the Spaniards. The marriage is r^ folved on, and all the Chiefs of the Hugonots come to Court. The Queen of Navarre is poi- foned. After her death the marriage is celebrat- ed, during the feafls of which. Admiral Coligni is wounded by an affaffin. The King takes the resolution that, as in extreme cafes it is impru- dence to do things by halves, the Hu^onots fhould be exterminated. The night between the 23d and the 24th of Auguft, 1572, a Sunday . called Saint Bartholomew's Day, the Admiral is i - / /IL maffacreed, and almoft all the other Calvinifts*' £
are cut in pieces in Paris, and in ieveral other ™ c *?5 ^. , cities in the kingdom. 6**™ **#* ***/' r<
Such, in nations where there is not a fixed and known conftitution, or where there is a conftitu- tion, without an effectual balance, are the tragi- cal effects of emulation, jcaloufies and rivalries- — deftruction to all the leaders — poverty, beggary and ruin to the followers. France, after a tury of fuch horrors, found no remedy ag them but in abfolute monarchy : nor did
nation ever find any remedy againft the miieries ^^-^^ u& -^ r>* a of fuch rivalries amonff the gentlemen, but in x /•
j r sr i 111 r- nt* \M OLbr** J Cf
aeipotiim, monarchy, or a balanced conititution. • ,£> // , It is not neceilary to fay, that every defpotifm *%
GS anJJ
<t.dav £au.ic* have. -rocU^tce* .Jl~rr»i{*-t
242 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
and monarchy that ever has exifted among men? arofe out of.fuch emulations anung the princi- pal men ; but it may be afierted with confidence, that this caufe alone is fuflicient to account for 'the rife, progrefs and eftablifhment of every def- potifm and monarchy in the four quarters of the globe.
It is not intended at this time to purfue any further this inftrucHve though melancholy hifto- ry, nor to make any comparifcocs, in detail, be- tween the ftate of France in 1791, and the con- dition it was in two or three centuries ago. But if there are now differences of opinion in reli- gion, morals, government and philofophy — if there are parties, and leaders of parties — if there are emulations- — if there are rivalries and rivals — is there any better provifion made by the con- flitution to balance them now than formerly ? — If there is not, what is the reafon ? who is the ef &< caufe ? All the thunders of heaven, although a
flj ifaf'j Paratonnere had never been invented, would not
in a thousand years have deftroyed fo many lives,
>0(n* jtU^nr «j nor occaiioned fo much defolation among man- /£( >/>£/•«* ti ^ kind, as the majority of a legiflature in one un-
controled affembly may produce in a {ingle Saint Bartholomew's Day.* Saint Bartholomew's ; ays
re j • i i i n~ T.
are the natural, necellary and unavoidable enect ''-'* -^ri:>n;nand confequence of diverfities in opinion, the fpi- -w y» t If t^V/pA'-v*^ nt of party, unchecked pafiions, emulation and ri- •t ^« J&tUrf>,+-'^v2i^YJ-> where there is not a power always ready
and inclined to throw Weights into the lighteft fcale, to preferve or reftore the equilibrium.
Ht nt> Jt tb^r With a view of vindicating republics, com-
• monwealths and free ilates, from unmerited re-
ty* preaches, we have detailed theie anecdotes from
the htftory of France. With equal propriety we
might have reibrted to the hiftory of England,
which
* Upon Franklin's authority, the French adopted their government is «ne
DISCOURSES ON DAVlLA. 243
which is full of contefts and dilienlions of the fame fort. There is a morfcl of that hiilory, the life and actions of the protector Somerfet, fo re- markably appoiite, that it "would be \vorth while to relate it — for the prefent however it muft be waved. It is too fafhionable with writers to im- pute fuch contentions to republican governments, as if they were peculiar to them ; whereas nothing is further from reality. Republican writers them- felves have bee« as often guilty of this miftake, in whom it is an indifcretion, as monarchical wri- ters, in whom it may be thought policy ; in both however it is an error. We lhali mention only two, Machiavel and de Lolme. In Machiavel's hiftory of Florence, lib. 3, we read, " It is given from above that in all republics, there IhouiJ be fatal families, who are born for the ruin of them ; to the end that in human affairs nothing fhould be perpetual or quiet/'
If indeed this were acknowledged to be the will of heaven, as Machiavel feems to afiert, why iliould we entertain refentments againft fuch fa- milies ? They are but inftruments-, and they can- not but anfwer their end. If they are commif- fioned from above to be deftroying angels, why ihould we oppofe or refill them ! As to " the end" there are other caufes enough, which will forever prevent perpetuity or tranquility, in any great degree in human affairs. Animal life is a chemical procefs ; and is carried on by unceafmg motion. Our bodies and minds, like the heavens, the earth and the fea, like all animal, vegetable
— . * O
and mineral nature ; like the elements of earth, air, fire and water, are continually changing, — - The mutability and mutations of matter, and much more of the intellectual and moral world, are the confequence of laws of nature, not lefs with- out our power than beyond our comprehenfibn. While we are thus allured that in one fenfe no- thing
244 DISCOURSES ON DAViLA.
thing in human affairs will be perpetual or at reft ; we ouGfht to remember at the fame time, that the
O J
duration of our lives, the fecurity of our proper- ty, the exiftence of our conveniences, comforts and pleafures, the repofe of private life, and the tranquility of fociety, are placed in very great degrees, in human power. Equal laws may be ordained and executed, great families as well as little ones, may be reftrained. And that policy is not lefs pernicious than that philofophy is falfe, which repreients fuch families as fent by heaven to be judgments : Tt is not true in fact. On the contrary they are fent to be bleflings — and they are bieflings until by our own obftinate ignorance and imprudence, in refuiing to etlablim fuch in- ftitutions as will make them always bleflings, we turn them into curfes. There are evils it is true which attend them as well as other human Wett- ings, even government, liberty, virtue and reli- gion. It is -the province of philofophy and poli- cy to increafe the good and leffen the evil that attends them as much as poflible. But it is not furely the way, either to increafe the good or leffen the evil which accompanies fuch families, to reprefent them to the people as machines, as rods, as fcourges, as blind and mechanical inftru-. ments in the hands of divine vengence, unmixed with benevolence. Nor has it any good tenden- cy or effect, to endeavour to render them unpop- ular ; to make them objects of hatred, malice, jealoufy, envy, or revenge to the common people, 'The way of wifdom to happinefs is to make man- kind more friendly to each other. 'I he exiftence of fuch men or families is not their fault. They created not .themfelves. We, the Plebeians, find them, the \vorkmanftiipofGod and nature likeour- ielves. The conltitution of nature and the courfe of providence has produced them as well as us :
and
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 245
and they and we muft live together ; it depends on ourfelves indeed whether it Ihall be in peace, love and f riendfhip, or in war or hatred. JN or are they rcaibnably the objects of cenfure or averfion, of refentment, envy or hatred, for the gifts of fortune, any more than for thofe of nature. Con- ipicuous birth is no more in a man's power to a- void, than to obtain. Hereditary riches are no more a reproach than they are a merit. A pater- nal eftate is neither a virtue nor a fault. _ He muft neverthelefs be a novice in this world who does not know that thefe gift of fortune, are ad- vantages in fociety and life, which confer influ- ence, popularity and power. The diftinction that is made between the gifts of nature and thofe of fortune appears to be not well founded. It is fortune which confers beauty and ftrength, which are called qualities of nature as much as birth and hereditary wealth, which are called accidents of fortune : and on the other hand it is nature which confers thefe favours, as really as ftature and agility.-
Narrow ancj illiberal fentiments are not pecular to the rich or the poor. If the vulgar have found a Machiavel to give countenances to their malig- nity, by his contracted and illiberal exclamations againft illuftrious families, as the curfe of heaven : the rich and the noble have not unfrequently produced fordid inftances of individuals among themfelves, who have adopted and propogated an opinion that God hates the poor, and that pov- erty, and mifery on earth are, inflicted by Provi- dence in its wrath and difplealure. This noble philofophy is furcly as (hallow and as execrable as the other Plebeian philofophy of Machiavel ; but it is countenanced by at leaft as many of the phenomena of the world, i et both be difcarded as the reproach of human underftanding, and a
dif grace
2+6 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
difgrace to human nature. Let the rich and the poor unite in the bands of mutual affeclion, be mutually fenfible-of each others ignorance, \veak- nefs and error, and unite in concerting meafures for their mutual defence, again ft each other's views and follies, by fupporting an impartial Me- diator.
5/0/mt. That^ ingenious Genevan, to whom the Eng- lifti nation is indebted for a more intelligiole explanation of their own conftitution than any that has been ever publifhed by their own Acher- ly or Bacon, Bolingbroke or Blackftone, has quo- ted this paflage of Machiavel,.and applied it, like him, to the drfhonour of republican governments. De Lolme, in his conftitution of England, Book 2 c. i. fays — " I cannot avoid tranfcribing a part of "the fpeech which a citizen of Florence addrefled 6 once to the Senate : the reader will find in it " a kind of abridged ftory of all republics/' He then quotes the paflage before cited from Machiavel. Why ihould fo grave an accufation be brought, againft republics ? If it were well founded, it would be a very ferious argument, not only againft fuch forms of government, but againft human nature. Families and competitions, are the un- avoidable confequence of that emulation, which God and nature have implanted in the human heart, for the wiieft and beft purpofes, and which the public good, inftead of cooling or extinguishing, requires to be directed to honor and virtue, and then nourifhed, eherifhed, and cultivated. Jf fuch contentions appeared only in republican governments, there would be fome color for charging them as a re- proach to thefe forms ; but they appear as fre- quent and as violent in defpotifms and monar- chies, as they do in commonwealths. In all the defpotifms of Afia and Africa, in all the monar- chies of Europe, there are conftant fucceflions of
emulation
DISCOURSES ON DAVILA. 247
emulation and rivalry, and confequently of con- tefts and diflcntions among families. L>efpotifm5 which crumes and decapitates, fometimes inter- rupts their progrefs, and prevents fome of their tragical effects. Monarchies, with their fpies, letters de catcl et, dungeons and inquifitions, may do almoft as well. But the balance of a free government is more effectual than either, with- out any of their injuftice, caprice or cruelty, The foregoing examples from the Hiftory of France, and a thouland others equally ftriking which might be added, Ihow that Bourbons and Montmorencies, Guifcs and Colignis, were as fa- tal families in that kingdom as the Buondelmenti and Huberti, the Donati and Cerc'hi, the Rici and Abbizzi, or Medici at Florence.
Inftead of throwing falfe imputations on re- publican governments ; inftead of exciting or fo- menting a vulgar malignity againft the moft re- fpectable men and families — let us draw the pro- per inferences from hiftory and experience — let us lay it down for a certain fact, firft, that emu- lation between individuals, and rivalries among i'amilies, never can be prevented : fecond, let us adopt it as a certain principle that they ought not to be prevented, but directed to virtue, and then ftimulated and encouraded by generous ap- plaufe and honorable rewards. And from thefe premifes let the conclufion be, as it ought to be, that an effectual controul be provided in the con- iiitution, to check their exceffes and balance their weights. If this conclufion is not drawn, anoth- er will follow of itfelf — the people will be the dupes, and the leaders will worry each other and the people too, till both are weary and afhamcd, and from feeling, not fiom reafoning, fet up a mailer and a defpot for a Protector. What kind of a Protector he will be, may be learned here- after from btephen Boctius. . Qnd v I&CY Jul^
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243 DISCOURSES ON DAVILA.
POSTSCRIPT.
IF any one wifli to fee more of the fpirit >f Rivalry, without reading the great Hiftorans ot France, he may confult L'Efprit de la Ligue- L'Efprit de la Fr.'iide and the Memoirs of De Uetz and his Co-tempora- ries. The hidory of England is more familiar fo Americans ; but, with* out reading many volumes, he may find enough of Rivalries in thofe Chapters of Henry's hiftory of Great Britain, which treat of ei"il and military affiirs If even th 3 ftudy be too grave, lie mny *ind. in Shakef- peiie's hiftorica! plays, efpccially Henry 4th. 5th and 6 h.and Richard the hird, enough ro fatisfy hint. I- the ga;-.-iy of FalftafFand his aflb- ciate-., exci e not fo much of his laughter, as to divert his attention from all eri >us reflexions, he wil find, m the efforts of ambit'on and ava- rice, to obtain thei objects, tnou h of the everlafting pretexts of reli- gion, liberty, love of country a d pub ic good, to difgu fe them. The unli ullinig applicat ons to foreigii ;irw rs, France, Grr.ii£.ny, the Pope, Holland, -.-otiand, Wales i d Jao>. Cade to increafe their par« ties and affifl their (tre.ioth, wil excite his indignation : while the blood of the poor cheated people flowing in tonentson all fides, will affli(5t his humanity.
The Eng ifli Conftitution, in that period was not formed. The houfe of Commons was not fett'ed; the authority -,f the Peers was not defin- ed the prerogatives of the Cr.jwn were not limited. Magna Charta, with all its confirm tions and folemnitie*, was violated at pleafure, by kings, noble* and commons too. The Judges held their offices at pleafure. The Habens Corpus was unknown ; and that balance of pallions and interests which a one can give authority 10 reafon, fr>m which refults all the fecur sy to liberty and the rights of man, was not yet wrought into the Englilli Con titution, nor much better underflood in England than in France. The unity of the Executive power was not eflablifhed. The National force in men and money was not in the king but in the land- holder-., with who •' the kings were obliged to make alliances in order; to form their armies ^nd fight their enemies foreign and domeftic. Their enemies werr generally able to procure an equal number of pow- erful Landholders with their forces to aflift them, fo that all depended on the chance ol war.
It has been faid, that it is extremely difficult to preferve a balance. This is no more than to fay that it is extremely difficult to preferve lib- erty. To this truth all ages and nations atteft. It is fo difficult, that the very appearance of it is loft, over the whole earth, excepting one Iflaud and North-America How long it will be before fhe returns to her native Ikies, and leaves the whole human race in ilavery, will de- pend on the intelligence and virtue of the people. .A balance, with all its difficulty, muft be preferved, or liberty is loft forever. Perhaps, a perfect balance, if it ever exifted, has not been long maintained in its perfection ; yet fuch a balance as has been fufficient to liberty, has been fupporied, in fome nations, fur-manv centuries together ; and we muft come, as near as we can, to a perfect equilibrium or all is loft. When it is once widely departed from, the departure increafes rapidly, till the whole is loft. If the people have not undcrftanding and public vir- tue enough, and will not be perfnaded of the necefllty of fupportmg an Independent Executive Authority, an Independent Senate and an Inde- pendent Judiciary power, as well as an Independent Houfe of Reprefen- tatives. All pretenlions to a balance are >o[l and with them all hope* «f fecurity to our deareft intercfts \ all hopes of Liberty.
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